I never really knew what the word "vertigo" really meant besides the fact that it was the title of a song by U2 and that it was a feeling of dizziness, how dizzy, I couldn't fathom. And then it happened.
Last Tuesday, I woke up to find my whole room spinning. My head felt heavy and my bedroom felt like it was tilting to the left. I thought maybe it was just me still feeling sleepy so I dragged myself out of bed and I struggled to get up and walk. I couldn't walk properly but I didn't think too much about it and made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Throughout the whole procedure the whole world was tilting to the left and my brain felt like it was spinning around like a top inside my skull. I found it difficult to stand still without losing balance and after I was done brushing my teeth, the urge to vomit came echoing through the depths of my esophagus and stomach. It finally hit me that I wasn't tired; there was something wrong with me.
I somehow made it to my mom's room and I told her that I wasn't feeling good but I was still determined to get ready for work. That was however brought to a full stop when I had to squat by the toilet bowl to get ready to expel the contents of my stomach. My mom checked on me as I vomited air and saliva and told me that I should take the day off as it seemed like I have vertigo, but it shouldn't be. But why wouldn't it be? Answers clicked as my brain spun like a ballerina on high amounts of caffeine.
The day before, my left ear was clogged, really clogged. Everything I hear with my left ear was muffled and I knew that it was definitely full of earwax. So when I got home, I asked my mom to help me get it out. That wasn't a problem but I was a bit worried about my left ear because the last time my mom helped me get earwax out, she had some difficulties with a hardened stubborn piece that was stuck in my ear and she accidentally hurt my ear canal and it bled. My mom looked into my ear and said there was a huge chunk inside. She cleaned out some of the outer ones and proceeded to get the huge one but disaster struck. While trying to get it out, she hurt my old wound in my ear and it started bleeding. My mom decided to stop at that and moved on to my other ear and cleaned it easily. I worriedly ask about my left ear and she said that it was bleeding just a little so we just let it as it is.
Back to me by the toilet bowl, I dragged myself back to bed and went to sleep after changing my clothes. My intentions were to sleep it off and then wake up later to go to see a doctor. When I did wake up about two hours later, my head felt a lot better than before but I was still dizzy as heck. I made my way down and told my dad my situation. I had breakfast and after that we headed out to the clinic near my house.
At the clinic, I registered myself and because it wasn't a busy day, I was quickly called to the counselling room. I was feeling mentally tired and my brain felt like it was gonna spin off my head so I struggled to tell the doctor my situation. He quickly dismissed my situation as "food poisoning". I was appalled. Food poisoning? I repeated myself that I am having a splitting headache and I want to vomit from my dizziness but he insisted that I have food poisoning solely because, one: I want to vomit, two: I have headaches, three: I will have diarrhoea. What kind of deduction is that? He didn't do any proper examination of any kind and he just passed off my situation as food poisoning just from listening to my statement. He started to show me the door and I quickly interjected by telling him about my ear. He had a quick look and said that I bled a lot in my ear. He then said he will issue me a medicine for my ear and once again quickly showed me the door. He didn't even think twice about my condition. I was aghast and greatly put off by his professionalism.
I went out and my dad was surprised at how quickly I came back out. We got the medicine and my medical certificate, paid, and left. I was very upset with the doctor's treatment but I was too dizzy to give any comment; the whole world was turning around and tilting, I just wanted to go home and rest. I was barely holding on when I got home. The moment I entered the house, I crashed on the sofa and went to sleep, the dizziness was too much to handle.
I woke up around 2pm but I was still too weak to eat so I had a small bowl of cereal before I went back to sleep. This continued on for a couple hours with me waking up feeling better and better with each time. Kathleen checked on me a few times I think, and it made me feel a lot better. By evening when my mom got home. I was feeling a lot better and I could walk around. My head was still spinning (or rotating) but it was like a slow moving gyroscope. If I moved my head too fast I would feel dizzy again so I had to keep my head still. I didn't vomit nor have diarrhoea so I complained about the irresponsible doctor to my mom. What a quack. By the night time, I confirmed that I didn't have food poisoning. I had experienced vertigo because of the imbalance in my ears. Certainly from this experience, I now know that my left ear needs proper care when cleaning. Maybe I need to see an ENT doctor (or an otorhinolaryngologist; after a quick Google search) for that.
The next day I woke up and sure enough, I feel a lot better. Quick movements in my head still make me dizzy and I can identify the pain in my left ear. All that convinces me that I really did have vertigo and not food poisoning (please close your clinic Dr. Hwa).
Today is the third day after my vertigo experience and it's still the same, I have small migraines when I move my head too fast and still no signs of food poisoning (please burn your doctor's certificate Dr. Hwa). Hopefully I can make a full recovery before this weekend as Quidditch will be pretty rough. (also, please reeducate yourself Dr. Hwa)
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Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Aroo?
Last Sunday Yati and I went to volunteer at Spartan Race Super. It might have been a bad choice.
We were sent a pdf file containing the general details about what we have to do as volunteers a few days prior to the race. Because the race was taking place in Klang, Yati put the night at my place as it was nearer to the location.
As we had to sign in at 5am, we woke up at 4am and had a light breakfast before heading out. We almost got lost along the way. When we got there, I parked the car at the directions instructed and we headed into the race area. We signed in and got our Volunteers t-shirt, breakfast and refreshments. The instructions said to wait for our manager named Helena or something like that but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. Later a lady in a blue "STAFF" shirt instructed us to go in and look for Douglas. Together with another three others, Yati and I headed in and we found a meeting area just in front of the Bag Check area. The Volunteers Guideline said that we can leave our luggage in the Bag Check but on the located we were told that we cannot do so, so we carried our bags with us.
After eating our breakfast, we were instructed to line up and we were assigned our positions. The guideline said that we would be briefed at 5am but we were not briefed about anything at all and by the time we were allocated our positions, it was already 6am and they were already flagging off the first wave of participants. Yati and I were put into Zone 4 but along the way we suddenly were changed to Zone 5. It appeared that there were not enough volunteers so one person was assigned to one station. Yati was assigned at the Tire Flip while I was put at this unnamed obstacle that looked like a joke.
The task on my obstacle was simple, there was a row of tires lined up in a row and the task was to take one tire from one end to the other. Easy enough. The problem was that some of the participants don't want to cooperate because when one side of the tires were "empty" they had to go to the other side to get it. In the end I just piled the tires and told the participants to pick one up and go around the row of tires and put them back in the pile. Why did this obstacle look like a joke? Compared to all the other obstacles, this was nothing. It was simply a product placement, evident with the huge Goodyear banner behind the obstacle.
The layout for the obstacles were barely planned out as well. Looking at all the obstacles we passed by, there was no shelter of any kind for us volunteers. We had to sit out in the sun and brace it's scorching rays. It was a lot worse as the current season was hit by El Nino and heat waves along with the start of the spring solstice and equinox whatever. Earlier in the morning it wasn't too bad because the weather was cloudy but around 11:15am, I was dehydrating under the sun in the open field.
Our shift was set to be from 5am to 12pm. We were to be replaced by the afternoon shift at 12:30pm latest. But it was 1pm and no one came to replace us. Our zone manager soon came by in his 4WD and apologised that they were extremely busy. He handed me a cold can of 100Plus and a cold bottle of water. I quickly gulped down the 100Plus as I was dehydrating under the scorching sun. After another two hours of scorching hot sun, another guy in a 4WD stopped by and called me over to his car. He wore the blue "STAFF" shirt but he looked like someone from the international team. He checked with me my shift and passed me a bottle of water and food and told me that if no one came to replace me in half an hour, I can just leave. I continued to watch over the station and about twenty minutes later, he came back with Yati in his car and beckoned me to get in. I quickly packed up all my stuff and got into the car. He told us that the management team had a major screw up and he's pulling us out because it was unfair towards us. He also mentioned, "it's their problem" so maybe my hunch about him being from the international team is right. He dropped Yati and I back at where we came from and the two of us made our way back to the entrance to sign off. After doing so, we ate our lunch and I sent Yati back home. The two of us were terribly sunburnt.
On Facebook, several other volunteers voiced out their respective problems they faced during the job. Turns out that Yati and I were considered lucky already as some other volunteers had a worse experience than us. We received a formal apology from the management a few days later and we were promised our race credits for the next race.
For me it wasn't so much of hell volunteering at this race. During my job, some participants showed concern for me being unprotected from the sun's heat and I also saw a bunch of my friends who participated in the obstacle course. Those were the small things that kept me going. A major downfall to this is that I don't get my second piece to the completion of this trifecta's set of medals.
We were sent a pdf file containing the general details about what we have to do as volunteers a few days prior to the race. Because the race was taking place in Klang, Yati put the night at my place as it was nearer to the location.
As we had to sign in at 5am, we woke up at 4am and had a light breakfast before heading out. We almost got lost along the way. When we got there, I parked the car at the directions instructed and we headed into the race area. We signed in and got our Volunteers t-shirt, breakfast and refreshments. The instructions said to wait for our manager named Helena or something like that but she wasn't anywhere to be seen. Later a lady in a blue "STAFF" shirt instructed us to go in and look for Douglas. Together with another three others, Yati and I headed in and we found a meeting area just in front of the Bag Check area. The Volunteers Guideline said that we can leave our luggage in the Bag Check but on the located we were told that we cannot do so, so we carried our bags with us.
After eating our breakfast, we were instructed to line up and we were assigned our positions. The guideline said that we would be briefed at 5am but we were not briefed about anything at all and by the time we were allocated our positions, it was already 6am and they were already flagging off the first wave of participants. Yati and I were put into Zone 4 but along the way we suddenly were changed to Zone 5. It appeared that there were not enough volunteers so one person was assigned to one station. Yati was assigned at the Tire Flip while I was put at this unnamed obstacle that looked like a joke.
The task on my obstacle was simple, there was a row of tires lined up in a row and the task was to take one tire from one end to the other. Easy enough. The problem was that some of the participants don't want to cooperate because when one side of the tires were "empty" they had to go to the other side to get it. In the end I just piled the tires and told the participants to pick one up and go around the row of tires and put them back in the pile. Why did this obstacle look like a joke? Compared to all the other obstacles, this was nothing. It was simply a product placement, evident with the huge Goodyear banner behind the obstacle.
The layout for the obstacles were barely planned out as well. Looking at all the obstacles we passed by, there was no shelter of any kind for us volunteers. We had to sit out in the sun and brace it's scorching rays. It was a lot worse as the current season was hit by El Nino and heat waves along with the start of the spring solstice and equinox whatever. Earlier in the morning it wasn't too bad because the weather was cloudy but around 11:15am, I was dehydrating under the sun in the open field.
Our shift was set to be from 5am to 12pm. We were to be replaced by the afternoon shift at 12:30pm latest. But it was 1pm and no one came to replace us. Our zone manager soon came by in his 4WD and apologised that they were extremely busy. He handed me a cold can of 100Plus and a cold bottle of water. I quickly gulped down the 100Plus as I was dehydrating under the scorching sun. After another two hours of scorching hot sun, another guy in a 4WD stopped by and called me over to his car. He wore the blue "STAFF" shirt but he looked like someone from the international team. He checked with me my shift and passed me a bottle of water and food and told me that if no one came to replace me in half an hour, I can just leave. I continued to watch over the station and about twenty minutes later, he came back with Yati in his car and beckoned me to get in. I quickly packed up all my stuff and got into the car. He told us that the management team had a major screw up and he's pulling us out because it was unfair towards us. He also mentioned, "it's their problem" so maybe my hunch about him being from the international team is right. He dropped Yati and I back at where we came from and the two of us made our way back to the entrance to sign off. After doing so, we ate our lunch and I sent Yati back home. The two of us were terribly sunburnt.
On Facebook, several other volunteers voiced out their respective problems they faced during the job. Turns out that Yati and I were considered lucky already as some other volunteers had a worse experience than us. We received a formal apology from the management a few days later and we were promised our race credits for the next race.
For me it wasn't so much of hell volunteering at this race. During my job, some participants showed concern for me being unprotected from the sun's heat and I also saw a bunch of my friends who participated in the obstacle course. Those were the small things that kept me going. A major downfall to this is that I don't get my second piece to the completion of this trifecta's set of medals.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
24
I don't know when it started but I had started to dislike my birthday. I started thinking of it as a reminder that I'm getting older and a countdown to a timely death should I not encounter any untimely ones. I didn't like the idea and that made me start to dislike my own birthday but me being me, I can't think the same way for other people. I celebrate the joy of other people's birthdays because to me that's something a sign of other people's maturity and their wellbeing. I don't think that makes any sense. Heck, I'm not completely sure why birthdays are joyous and I'm too lazy to Google that to learn the psychology behind it now.
Anyway, Ryan Ryan and I share the same birth date so it while I was happy for him, it kinda made me happy for myself as well. I suddenly dropped the negative ideas I had about my own birthday and I looked forward to the dinner plans I made with Ryan Ryan, Rachael, Debbie and Leonard.
But boy did I have quite a surprising birthday. On the day itself, I went to work like usual and I didn't expect anyone but maybe the managers to know (because Steven is often on Facebook after work). I accidentally left my phone in the car and my mom drove off to work with it so I was disconnected from the social network and I was completely oblivious to whatever was happening which was good because that way I wasn't distracted from my work and the stuff I wanted to accomplish that day. It was the start of the month so I had to change the promotional items on display in the store. While I was doing that, one of the staff members suddenly called out to me. He came over and wanted to show me a magic trick so I thought why not. At first I thought he wanted to practice his toy demonstration but I noticed that the deck he was using is is own poker cards. So he told me to pick a card from the deck and I had to guess if it was a red or black card. I said black and I thought to myself, the card in my hand was definitely gonna be black. He turned the deck around to show me that it was really an ordinary poker card deck and asked me to turn the card I picked around. Writen crudely on the card was, "Happy Birthday Max!". I was stunned, I was so shocked my brain farted and the first two things that came into my mind was, "This card isn't black." first, then "How did he know it's my birthday?" I came back to my sense and I thanked him for the wish before asking him how he knew. He said Steven had announced it in the Whatsapp group and everyone is wishing me a happy birthday. His magic trick really caught me off guard and it really made my day, all thanks to me forgetting to bring my phone to work.
In the evening, Leonard, Rachael and Debbie came to meet up with me. I had to go out to the central park to get my phone from my mom after work. After that I hopped into Leonard's car and we headed for dinner at Eat Mor (previously named Momo Paradise). Ryan Ryan's class ended early so he was at the restaurant early and there wasn't a lot of customers so he got get us a table. We got ourselves seated and Debbie took our birthday presents for Ryan Ryan and me. Ryan Ryan's present was shared between Rachael and Debbie as for mine was just Debbie's. Ryan Ryan then revealed that he and Rachael has also shared to get me present. This embarrassed me because I didn't think of getting Ryan Ryan a gift but luckily I have backups for such situations. I have some unopened toys I got that I had planned for such events. We chatted idly as we ate our steamboat buffet. After we were done, Ryan Ryan and I opened our presents. I was joyous because Debbie got me the Lego Star Wars General Grievous Buildable Figure. She actually remembered the small silly stuff I tell her work, that made me feel blessed. Ryan Ryan got a Donald Duck figurine USB drive. When we were done, Rachael and Debbie went home whereas Ryan Ryan, Leonard and I went to Chatime because we talked about the freebies some places give on your birthday month. Ryan Ryan went to register for a Chatime BCard and I was gonna redeem my free drink but to my dismay, I had lost my Chatime BCard. I searched my wallet but to no avail, I had really lost my card. I tried to recall the last time I used it in hopes that I can go there and find it. After a while Ryan Ryan and Leonard went home.
The next day, I quickly put my plan into action. Ryan Ryan was gonna drop by to pass me the birthday present he and Rachael got for me. I went to Daiso and bought a rectangular frying pan (that you use to make rectangular fried eggs, usually for sushi) and I wrapped the Star Wars Metal Earth model I picked for him. Then I added in a Lego Batman Batwing polybag that I got and wrapped them together in the frying pan. Then I put the frying pan in a bigger box and put in old Lego ang paos from 2015 to act as weights and then wrapped the whole box up. Ryan Ryan came later in the evening with a big surprise. He said he had arrived at the shop so I took his present with me and I walked out to the entrance and to my shock he was carrying a big husky plush toy. I was left speechless and my brain farted a couple of times. I really didn't expect to get a plush toy. Ryan Ryan mentioned how Rachael and him tried to find the shark plush I had said I wanted from Ikea but they were sold out, so they got the husky instead. Three friends who remembered the small silly things I say and they got them for me. I felt really blessed and happy. I passed Ryan Ryan his birthday present and then we parted because he had a dinner to attend. I decided to name the husky 'Max' because that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it.
While last year's birthday was quite healthy, this year's I can say was materialistic? Hahaha. I found it seldom that I get birthday presents for my birthday, it was usually meals and hang outs. I do occasionally get present from one or two people, like the M&Ms dispenser I got from Mae or a box full of Pokemon cards from Marcus long time ago.
This year I didn't really celebrate my birthday with my high school friends like usual. This time we went to myBurger Lab in Seapark and I got the free burger for January babies promotion. I had a Heartattack, a juicy beef burger with three slices of cheese, tomato, mushrooms and caramelised onions with a side of mash potatoes. After the early dinner we went to Marcus' house to play a bit of Naruto and then Saboteur.
I didn't exactly celebrate my birthday with my college buds as well. I went to Wilson's house to shoot a video and that was pretty much it. After I went home, Wilson messaged me saying that they forgot to give me the birthday present that they got for me so I'll have to get it from them the next time we're meeting up.
I had dinner with my family at Morganfield's in e@Curve. Unfortunately the service was pretty poor. The staff were friendly and patient but my mom made a fuss and a scene because we were waiting for our meal for over an hour and a half. It was not them to blame because I had a Groupon and many other people were ordering the same thing, going there to eat at peak hours had our orders held back. But still, an hour and a half was just too long. The management however still treated us to a bowl of soup and dessert (because of my mom) so that's fine. At the table the only person who was upset was my mom, my dad who usually get hangry didn't make a fuss (probably because he was being entertained by the Mr Bean episodes that were being played) and my sister was busy on her phone. So it was a so-so okay but kinda disappointing birthday dinner I had with my family.
Thanks to my friends this year, I suppose I can say that I have new views on my own birthday. I don't dislike it as much as before now. So here's to a good year ahead until next. Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!
Anyway, Ryan Ryan and I share the same birth date so it while I was happy for him, it kinda made me happy for myself as well. I suddenly dropped the negative ideas I had about my own birthday and I looked forward to the dinner plans I made with Ryan Ryan, Rachael, Debbie and Leonard.
But boy did I have quite a surprising birthday. On the day itself, I went to work like usual and I didn't expect anyone but maybe the managers to know (because Steven is often on Facebook after work). I accidentally left my phone in the car and my mom drove off to work with it so I was disconnected from the social network and I was completely oblivious to whatever was happening which was good because that way I wasn't distracted from my work and the stuff I wanted to accomplish that day. It was the start of the month so I had to change the promotional items on display in the store. While I was doing that, one of the staff members suddenly called out to me. He came over and wanted to show me a magic trick so I thought why not. At first I thought he wanted to practice his toy demonstration but I noticed that the deck he was using is is own poker cards. So he told me to pick a card from the deck and I had to guess if it was a red or black card. I said black and I thought to myself, the card in my hand was definitely gonna be black. He turned the deck around to show me that it was really an ordinary poker card deck and asked me to turn the card I picked around. Writen crudely on the card was, "Happy Birthday Max!". I was stunned, I was so shocked my brain farted and the first two things that came into my mind was, "This card isn't black." first, then "How did he know it's my birthday?" I came back to my sense and I thanked him for the wish before asking him how he knew. He said Steven had announced it in the Whatsapp group and everyone is wishing me a happy birthday. His magic trick really caught me off guard and it really made my day, all thanks to me forgetting to bring my phone to work.
In the evening, Leonard, Rachael and Debbie came to meet up with me. I had to go out to the central park to get my phone from my mom after work. After that I hopped into Leonard's car and we headed for dinner at Eat Mor (previously named Momo Paradise). Ryan Ryan's class ended early so he was at the restaurant early and there wasn't a lot of customers so he got get us a table. We got ourselves seated and Debbie took our birthday presents for Ryan Ryan and me. Ryan Ryan's present was shared between Rachael and Debbie as for mine was just Debbie's. Ryan Ryan then revealed that he and Rachael has also shared to get me present. This embarrassed me because I didn't think of getting Ryan Ryan a gift but luckily I have backups for such situations. I have some unopened toys I got that I had planned for such events. We chatted idly as we ate our steamboat buffet. After we were done, Ryan Ryan and I opened our presents. I was joyous because Debbie got me the Lego Star Wars General Grievous Buildable Figure. She actually remembered the small silly stuff I tell her work, that made me feel blessed. Ryan Ryan got a Donald Duck figurine USB drive. When we were done, Rachael and Debbie went home whereas Ryan Ryan, Leonard and I went to Chatime because we talked about the freebies some places give on your birthday month. Ryan Ryan went to register for a Chatime BCard and I was gonna redeem my free drink but to my dismay, I had lost my Chatime BCard. I searched my wallet but to no avail, I had really lost my card. I tried to recall the last time I used it in hopes that I can go there and find it. After a while Ryan Ryan and Leonard went home.
The next day, I quickly put my plan into action. Ryan Ryan was gonna drop by to pass me the birthday present he and Rachael got for me. I went to Daiso and bought a rectangular frying pan (that you use to make rectangular fried eggs, usually for sushi) and I wrapped the Star Wars Metal Earth model I picked for him. Then I added in a Lego Batman Batwing polybag that I got and wrapped them together in the frying pan. Then I put the frying pan in a bigger box and put in old Lego ang paos from 2015 to act as weights and then wrapped the whole box up. Ryan Ryan came later in the evening with a big surprise. He said he had arrived at the shop so I took his present with me and I walked out to the entrance and to my shock he was carrying a big husky plush toy. I was left speechless and my brain farted a couple of times. I really didn't expect to get a plush toy. Ryan Ryan mentioned how Rachael and him tried to find the shark plush I had said I wanted from Ikea but they were sold out, so they got the husky instead. Three friends who remembered the small silly things I say and they got them for me. I felt really blessed and happy. I passed Ryan Ryan his birthday present and then we parted because he had a dinner to attend. I decided to name the husky 'Max' because that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it.
While last year's birthday was quite healthy, this year's I can say was materialistic? Hahaha. I found it seldom that I get birthday presents for my birthday, it was usually meals and hang outs. I do occasionally get present from one or two people, like the M&Ms dispenser I got from Mae or a box full of Pokemon cards from Marcus long time ago.
This year I didn't really celebrate my birthday with my high school friends like usual. This time we went to myBurger Lab in Seapark and I got the free burger for January babies promotion. I had a Heartattack, a juicy beef burger with three slices of cheese, tomato, mushrooms and caramelised onions with a side of mash potatoes. After the early dinner we went to Marcus' house to play a bit of Naruto and then Saboteur.
I didn't exactly celebrate my birthday with my college buds as well. I went to Wilson's house to shoot a video and that was pretty much it. After I went home, Wilson messaged me saying that they forgot to give me the birthday present that they got for me so I'll have to get it from them the next time we're meeting up.
I had dinner with my family at Morganfield's in e@Curve. Unfortunately the service was pretty poor. The staff were friendly and patient but my mom made a fuss and a scene because we were waiting for our meal for over an hour and a half. It was not them to blame because I had a Groupon and many other people were ordering the same thing, going there to eat at peak hours had our orders held back. But still, an hour and a half was just too long. The management however still treated us to a bowl of soup and dessert (because of my mom) so that's fine. At the table the only person who was upset was my mom, my dad who usually get hangry didn't make a fuss (probably because he was being entertained by the Mr Bean episodes that were being played) and my sister was busy on her phone. So it was a so-so okay but kinda disappointing birthday dinner I had with my family.
Thanks to my friends this year, I suppose I can say that I have new views on my own birthday. I don't dislike it as much as before now. So here's to a good year ahead until next. Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday!
Monday, January 11, 2016
New Year Clouds
So it's obviously the new year, and almost everybody on the planet would be making new year resolutions and looking forward to new stuff and bla bla bla. I'm not like that. This year didn't feel any different for me, it's just another day with more uncertainties ahead.
Anyway, it's still the new year so I obviously made some plans to celebrate. Out of the small list of things I planned to do on new year's eve to welcome the new year, I decided on seeing the first sunrise of the year. Unfortunately we can't see a good sunrise from the beach on the west coast and we're not very keen on traveling to the east coast to see it so Marcus, Yati and I decided to climb Broga Hill to hopefully see the sunrise, knowing that it's almost impossible to see it because of the clouds and mist. We invited Kuui to join us and we planned out how the itinerary.
After work, I met up with Marcus and Yati and we went to buy some snacks. I had to cut my hair before that so it took some time as there was a queue at the hair stylist. After that we made a last minute decision and Marcus went back home to grab his PS2 and then we headed to my house in my car. I took the guys to have dinner at the koptiam that my family always go to to introduce them to the delicious tom yam there. After dinner we headed back to my house and we played games into the night. We were so into the game that we didn't notice it was already the new year until we heard the fireworks. In the previous years my family and I could always get a good view of the fireworks display at Setia City Mall from my house but this time, we couldn't see a thing because the bamboo tree outside my house has grown so tall that it blocks the view, so we didn't get to see any fireworks this year.
We continued to play games for around an hour and then Yati and I went to sleep. Marcus decided to stay up. At 3am, we woke up and got ready to head out. We got into my car and we headed down to pick Kuui up. After we got him from his house, we went straight to Broga Hill. I made a couple wrong turns along the way because KL roads are shit but we got to the hill just fine. We thought maybe we were the only ones who had the idea of climbing the hill but we thought wrong. There were a lot of people at the hill. Luckily we were still early so we didn't have to queue for long to get into the makeshift parking lot and a spot to park my car. It had started to rain as we were going in but we decided that we should just go for it because we were already there and that going back out would make the trip a waste. So we walked up to the hill following a small crowd. Not wanting to snail walk up with the crowd, we took paths that are not occupied as there are some new instalments along the journey up to the hill to support and aid people to go up the hill safely. The condition of the hill has worsened since the last time I went there, the steps have become smooth and slippery and signs of landslides reveal a lot of lose boulders and some paths has become steeper making it dangerous. The short rain had stopped already and that made things a little better. When we got to the first peak, it was crowded with people sitting around waiting for the sunrise. Our goal was to reached the highest peak so we pushed on. Up and and up we went. Some people had tents set up indicating that they may have been there for a while. We manage to get to the top where it was the most crowded because of the small space and the crowd. The worst part of the climb was that there were idiots at every peak smoking their cigarettes. Such fools! People are there to enjoy the fresh air and these imbeciles are there polluting it. They were not just creating air pollution, they were also disturbing the environment by throwing their cigarette butts on the ground. Such retarded dimwits. We found a spot to sit down facing the direction of the sunrise and we waited and took in the wind (and suffocated at the smell of cigarette smoke), hopefully getting the chance to see the sunrise as seen in photos online. Unfortunately for us, the sky only lit up, indicating that the sun had rose but we couldn't see it peak from behind the hills in the distance because of the heavy clouds from the result of the earlier rain and the mists. It wasn't that bad though because we got to get the exercise. However, the blissful peace didn't last long. Nature started calling and it called fast. The tom yam from last night is doing it's job. We then proceeded to make our way down the hill as quick as possible. My stomach grumbled and bubbled as I clenched my butt cheeks like my life depends on it. I barely made it as we made our way to the public toilet but holding it in the whole journey down sure seemed like a miracle to me, I don't think I've ever held my shit in for so long before, not when it has to come out in a sea of red waterfall (and burning pain thanks to the tom yam). A wave of relief surged over me as I emptied my bowels into the surprisingly clean toilet bowl, unfortunately the flush was broken so I couldn't wash my submarines down into the drain (or sewer, whatever).
After I was done with my ordeal, we went back to my car, changed our sweat drenched shirts and cleaned our shoes as much as possible and we headed out for breakfast. On the climb up the hill, Marcus and I overheard some climbers in front of us talking about a good place that serves pork noodles in Cheras, so we decided to go for that. When we reached the store, it wasn't opened yet. So I winded down the windows and turned off the engine and went to sleep, it was a tiring hike and I didn't get enough sleep last night after all. After about an hour and a half, we all woke up and we went to grab our breakfast. The restaurant is called OUG Seafood Pork Noodle. I ordered their seafood and pork noodles and it was better than I expected. The broth (or soup) was bursting with flavour and the noodles were cooked nicely. The amount of seafood and meat however was not enough however, still quality over quantity I guess. If I ever pass by again, I would go there to have another bowl of their noodles.
After our meal, Marcus took over the wheel because I had reached my limit and I fell into a slumber in the backseat of my car. Marcus woke me up when we reached his house. He had already dropped Kuui and Yati off at their homes to rest up before our next agenda. I slept some more in Marcus' room as he did his own stuff. After an hour or two, we headed back out. Marcus took his car and went to pick Kuui up and I went to pick Yati. We convoyed our way back to my house. We set up the PS2 and we played into the evening. After feeding my dogs, we went to Z Bistro near my house because I wanted the guys to try the satay there. Unfortunately they were out of lamb, so we had to settle for chicken and beef only. After our fill, we went back to my house and we continued to play games. The initial plan was that my friends will go home after dinner but while played games, Marcus fell asleep and he looked so tired so we didn't want to wake him up. I let Kuui and Yati watch 5cm per Second on the TV and because of the terrible subtitles on the copy I downloaded, Kuui was confused and Yati couldn't contain his laughter (Yati has watched the movie before). After that we skimmed through Redline and then we went to sleep at 3am.
The next morning, we continued to play games. Marcus said they will go back at 10am so we didn't go out for breakfast but with playing games, they didn't go back as they said they will. My parents returned from their trip to Penang and was surprised to see the guys still here. My mom made some desserts for us and we continued to play games until 2pm, then we went to have lunch with my parents at the kopitiam. After lunch, we continued to play games until 4pm when the guys decided it was time to leave. I guess it was kinda my fault that they decided to leave so soon because I fell asleep at the couch.
So that was how we spent our new year. Played games, climbed a hill, played more games until we're dead tired. What a way to start 2016.
Anyway, it's still the new year so I obviously made some plans to celebrate. Out of the small list of things I planned to do on new year's eve to welcome the new year, I decided on seeing the first sunrise of the year. Unfortunately we can't see a good sunrise from the beach on the west coast and we're not very keen on traveling to the east coast to see it so Marcus, Yati and I decided to climb Broga Hill to hopefully see the sunrise, knowing that it's almost impossible to see it because of the clouds and mist. We invited Kuui to join us and we planned out how the itinerary.
After work, I met up with Marcus and Yati and we went to buy some snacks. I had to cut my hair before that so it took some time as there was a queue at the hair stylist. After that we made a last minute decision and Marcus went back home to grab his PS2 and then we headed to my house in my car. I took the guys to have dinner at the koptiam that my family always go to to introduce them to the delicious tom yam there. After dinner we headed back to my house and we played games into the night. We were so into the game that we didn't notice it was already the new year until we heard the fireworks. In the previous years my family and I could always get a good view of the fireworks display at Setia City Mall from my house but this time, we couldn't see a thing because the bamboo tree outside my house has grown so tall that it blocks the view, so we didn't get to see any fireworks this year.
We continued to play games for around an hour and then Yati and I went to sleep. Marcus decided to stay up. At 3am, we woke up and got ready to head out. We got into my car and we headed down to pick Kuui up. After we got him from his house, we went straight to Broga Hill. I made a couple wrong turns along the way because KL roads are shit but we got to the hill just fine. We thought maybe we were the only ones who had the idea of climbing the hill but we thought wrong. There were a lot of people at the hill. Luckily we were still early so we didn't have to queue for long to get into the makeshift parking lot and a spot to park my car. It had started to rain as we were going in but we decided that we should just go for it because we were already there and that going back out would make the trip a waste. So we walked up to the hill following a small crowd. Not wanting to snail walk up with the crowd, we took paths that are not occupied as there are some new instalments along the journey up to the hill to support and aid people to go up the hill safely. The condition of the hill has worsened since the last time I went there, the steps have become smooth and slippery and signs of landslides reveal a lot of lose boulders and some paths has become steeper making it dangerous. The short rain had stopped already and that made things a little better. When we got to the first peak, it was crowded with people sitting around waiting for the sunrise. Our goal was to reached the highest peak so we pushed on. Up and and up we went. Some people had tents set up indicating that they may have been there for a while. We manage to get to the top where it was the most crowded because of the small space and the crowd. The worst part of the climb was that there were idiots at every peak smoking their cigarettes. Such fools! People are there to enjoy the fresh air and these imbeciles are there polluting it. They were not just creating air pollution, they were also disturbing the environment by throwing their cigarette butts on the ground. Such retarded dimwits. We found a spot to sit down facing the direction of the sunrise and we waited and took in the wind (and suffocated at the smell of cigarette smoke), hopefully getting the chance to see the sunrise as seen in photos online. Unfortunately for us, the sky only lit up, indicating that the sun had rose but we couldn't see it peak from behind the hills in the distance because of the heavy clouds from the result of the earlier rain and the mists. It wasn't that bad though because we got to get the exercise. However, the blissful peace didn't last long. Nature started calling and it called fast. The tom yam from last night is doing it's job. We then proceeded to make our way down the hill as quick as possible. My stomach grumbled and bubbled as I clenched my butt cheeks like my life depends on it. I barely made it as we made our way to the public toilet but holding it in the whole journey down sure seemed like a miracle to me, I don't think I've ever held my shit in for so long before, not when it has to come out in a sea of red waterfall (and burning pain thanks to the tom yam). A wave of relief surged over me as I emptied my bowels into the surprisingly clean toilet bowl, unfortunately the flush was broken so I couldn't wash my submarines down into the drain (or sewer, whatever).
After I was done with my ordeal, we went back to my car, changed our sweat drenched shirts and cleaned our shoes as much as possible and we headed out for breakfast. On the climb up the hill, Marcus and I overheard some climbers in front of us talking about a good place that serves pork noodles in Cheras, so we decided to go for that. When we reached the store, it wasn't opened yet. So I winded down the windows and turned off the engine and went to sleep, it was a tiring hike and I didn't get enough sleep last night after all. After about an hour and a half, we all woke up and we went to grab our breakfast. The restaurant is called OUG Seafood Pork Noodle. I ordered their seafood and pork noodles and it was better than I expected. The broth (or soup) was bursting with flavour and the noodles were cooked nicely. The amount of seafood and meat however was not enough however, still quality over quantity I guess. If I ever pass by again, I would go there to have another bowl of their noodles.
After our meal, Marcus took over the wheel because I had reached my limit and I fell into a slumber in the backseat of my car. Marcus woke me up when we reached his house. He had already dropped Kuui and Yati off at their homes to rest up before our next agenda. I slept some more in Marcus' room as he did his own stuff. After an hour or two, we headed back out. Marcus took his car and went to pick Kuui up and I went to pick Yati. We convoyed our way back to my house. We set up the PS2 and we played into the evening. After feeding my dogs, we went to Z Bistro near my house because I wanted the guys to try the satay there. Unfortunately they were out of lamb, so we had to settle for chicken and beef only. After our fill, we went back to my house and we continued to play games. The initial plan was that my friends will go home after dinner but while played games, Marcus fell asleep and he looked so tired so we didn't want to wake him up. I let Kuui and Yati watch 5cm per Second on the TV and because of the terrible subtitles on the copy I downloaded, Kuui was confused and Yati couldn't contain his laughter (Yati has watched the movie before). After that we skimmed through Redline and then we went to sleep at 3am.
The next morning, we continued to play games. Marcus said they will go back at 10am so we didn't go out for breakfast but with playing games, they didn't go back as they said they will. My parents returned from their trip to Penang and was surprised to see the guys still here. My mom made some desserts for us and we continued to play games until 2pm, then we went to have lunch with my parents at the kopitiam. After lunch, we continued to play games until 4pm when the guys decided it was time to leave. I guess it was kinda my fault that they decided to leave so soon because I fell asleep at the couch.
So that was how we spent our new year. Played games, climbed a hill, played more games until we're dead tired. What a way to start 2016.
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Eat and Be Merry
This year's Christmas week has been a pretty gastronomic Christmas for me.
Three days before Christmas I went to eat dinner at Cubes Pizza with Kai, Wilson, KW, Chia, Victor and Wee. They served us a three feet long pizza of two different flavours. I discovered the place via Groupon and the service there was really good. The pizza was great too! It was loaded with cheese and the toppings were generous. Definitely will go back. After dinner we wanted to grab a round two because Kai got lost and was late for the dinner. After going the wrong direction and going round and round Sunway, we found that A Pie Thing was closed, so we settled for Rock Cafe and ate satay and chicken wings while we just chatted and joked around.
Two days before Christmas, I did go back. This time it was lunch with Rachael, Debbie, Ryan Ryan, Hannah and Leonard. First we met up at Centerpoint to carpool. I then took Rachael's car and we headed to Cubes Pizza. We played a round of Saboteur before our food came and after lunch, Rachael, Debbie, Leonard and I went to Uptown DU to try out Softsrve. Their ice cream was so-so, it was just more of a wow factor with their dry ice presentation and the taste was just on an average. After dessert, we went back to Centerpoint and we went our own way home.
On Christmas Eve, I went to attend a Christmas party at Mae's house. I didn't quite know what to expect, and also I didn't know if I should have brought something because I don't celebrate Christmas and Mae's party was my third time attending a Christmas party in my life. When I got there, Mae was busy preparing dinner and Tecky was there. I didn't know anyone else there but I recognised Mae's parents and siblings. Her uncles, aunts and cousins were there also and they were all very friendly. But of course, I'm an awkward potato so I just sat around awkwardly and bashfully helped myself to the finger food when they offered. Mae first served us this amazing cheese loaf. It was a loaf of bread with melted cheese put into cuts topped with bacon. Shortly after Melvin arrived, dinner was served. For dinner there were spare ribs, spicy pasta, fried chicken (from KyoChon), potato wedges and some kind of salad. Mae's dad had us glasses of beer and we all sat together at the dinner table to eat. Mae's friend, Shen Yen and her sister came later and also helped themselves to dinner. I joined a small conversation with Kenny, Melvin and Tecky, and shortly after Kenny brought out his bottle of absinthe and we each had a shot. After that Tecky pointed out that the label on the bottle said we were not supposed to take it neat but we already did. Obviously I turned red really quickly but I didn't get very tipsy or high. After everyone was done with dinner, we sat down on the floor and played Saboteur. After three rounds, Shen Yen came out the winner and it was late so everyone slowly went home. Marcus was supposed to come so I waited for him to arrive after his family's dinner. While we waited for Marcus, William and I talked for a bit. Marcus came after everyone but me left. Mae, Marcus and I sat down to talk while Marcus and I helped ourselves to the remaining food. We didn't want to stay for too long so we went home after we were done.
On Christmas day, I went to meet up with Kai, Wilson and KW and we had dinner at Sushi Mentai in Sri Petaling. The sushi on the conveyor belt were really cheap and I helped myself to 15 plates of sushi and two cups of chawanmushi. After dinner we sat down at Wilson's place for a short while before we went home.
On Boxing Day, I went jogging with Marcus and Yati like usual, only I woke up really late because I was playing Team Fortress 2 until late and so I only walked one round and then we went for breakfast. After picking Kuui up from his house, we headed to Kaffe Cafe to have breakfast. When breakfast was done, we headed to play badminton with Melvin, Beng and Luke at Sports Planet in Kota Damansara. We played a couple of doubles for an hour or so before going our own way. Yati, Kuui and I went to Yati's house to rest for a bit before heading to 1Utama so I can do my last minute gift shopping for Ethel's Christmas party in the evening. I picked out a teeth shaped ice mould, went to buy drinks and snacks, and then we headed to Marcus' house to play games. Tecky was there and we played Naruto Shippden 2 on Marcus' PlayStation2. Tecky left before we played before we started playing Digimon Rumble Arena 2. After taking a bath and a change of clothes, we then grabbed the drinks I bought and we headed to Ethel's house.
Some people were there already when we got there. Most are same people I've met at last year's Christmas party. Surprisingly Hee Ching approached me, we are only acquaintances in high school, she asked me about my job which, Melvin had already told her about before I arrived and we both agreed that Melvin is a blabbermouth. Marcus, Melvin and Kuui started to help out in the kitchen and it was crowded so I sat out in the living room with the others who I barely know (Yati didn't want to mingle so he squeezed himself in the kitchen). I reintroduced myself to Jovian and vice-versa when he saw me sitting alone, we just chatted a bit and then Jason came over to talk with the guys. Luke and his girlfriend, Carolyn came and they joined in the conversation. I just sat there listening to the others and Yati came out to join me because there was nothing for him to do in the kitchen. Andrea soon came and she was the next person outside my close circle of friends at the party to joyfully greet me. Soon Chelsea came out and served everyone garlic bread with sauteed mushrooms, there was a name for it but I don't remember those fancy names. Shortly Ethel announced that dinner was served and Jason came out with the baked chicken while everyone gathered around the table to help themselves to the food. There was pasta, sushi (bought from somewhere, maybe AEON), quiche, the baked chicken and potato salad. Hou Yi came just before dinner started and Abby next as we started to stop eating. Ethel then got everyone to sit in a huge circle and we did an ice breaker by stating our names and a random info about ourselves; I noticed that I was wearing the same shirt last year. Right after everyone introduced themselves, we got into groups of four and we played charades. I was put together with Beng, Josh, Vikram and Woan. Our team was doing great, we were leading everyone by two points until the bonus round where shit hit the ceiling because Jason decided to make the game harder by not having a specific category for his words. Our team was spot on for the answers a couple of times but we were too wary to lose points so we failed to answer them as the other team got them right. In the end, Luke's team won. Shaun and his girlfriend came the last round before the bonus round started. Right after charades, we did the gift exchange. Jason got my gift and I got Hou Yi's, which was a colour changing mug. A few people went home but the rest of us were totally up for games. We split into two groups, one played Cards Against Humanity and the other played Mafia. Yati, Andrea, Abby, Derek, Kuui, Jerrica, Luke, Shaun, Keith and I played Cards Against Humanity, it was great fun but my cards were crap so I only managed to win one black card whereas Kuui was racking in black cards with the epic cards he got. When we finished it was already midnight and people started going home. Abby was not feeling well and I had to pick my sister up, so I thanked Ethel for the party, bid everyone farewell and wished a happy new year, and I chatted with Abby until I dropped her home. I has been a long time since I last actually chat with Abby.
So that was the end of this year's Christmas and 2016 is just around the corner. I must say that this Christmas has been by far the most eventful Christmas I've ever had. I not only attended Christmas parties, I also ate a lot of good food and met new friends and caught up with old friends. Unfortunately it seems to me that this Christmas is also the time when I lose my friendship with good friend, she decides to push me away and not open up her mind, it is something she's brought upon herself so I shouldn't interfere with her decisions because I've already used up my chances already anyway. But hey, it's life, nothing I should be bothered too much about. Merry Christmas everybody.
Three days before Christmas I went to eat dinner at Cubes Pizza with Kai, Wilson, KW, Chia, Victor and Wee. They served us a three feet long pizza of two different flavours. I discovered the place via Groupon and the service there was really good. The pizza was great too! It was loaded with cheese and the toppings were generous. Definitely will go back. After dinner we wanted to grab a round two because Kai got lost and was late for the dinner. After going the wrong direction and going round and round Sunway, we found that A Pie Thing was closed, so we settled for Rock Cafe and ate satay and chicken wings while we just chatted and joked around.
Two days before Christmas, I did go back. This time it was lunch with Rachael, Debbie, Ryan Ryan, Hannah and Leonard. First we met up at Centerpoint to carpool. I then took Rachael's car and we headed to Cubes Pizza. We played a round of Saboteur before our food came and after lunch, Rachael, Debbie, Leonard and I went to Uptown DU to try out Softsrve. Their ice cream was so-so, it was just more of a wow factor with their dry ice presentation and the taste was just on an average. After dessert, we went back to Centerpoint and we went our own way home.
On Christmas Eve, I went to attend a Christmas party at Mae's house. I didn't quite know what to expect, and also I didn't know if I should have brought something because I don't celebrate Christmas and Mae's party was my third time attending a Christmas party in my life. When I got there, Mae was busy preparing dinner and Tecky was there. I didn't know anyone else there but I recognised Mae's parents and siblings. Her uncles, aunts and cousins were there also and they were all very friendly. But of course, I'm an awkward potato so I just sat around awkwardly and bashfully helped myself to the finger food when they offered. Mae first served us this amazing cheese loaf. It was a loaf of bread with melted cheese put into cuts topped with bacon. Shortly after Melvin arrived, dinner was served. For dinner there were spare ribs, spicy pasta, fried chicken (from KyoChon), potato wedges and some kind of salad. Mae's dad had us glasses of beer and we all sat together at the dinner table to eat. Mae's friend, Shen Yen and her sister came later and also helped themselves to dinner. I joined a small conversation with Kenny, Melvin and Tecky, and shortly after Kenny brought out his bottle of absinthe and we each had a shot. After that Tecky pointed out that the label on the bottle said we were not supposed to take it neat but we already did. Obviously I turned red really quickly but I didn't get very tipsy or high. After everyone was done with dinner, we sat down on the floor and played Saboteur. After three rounds, Shen Yen came out the winner and it was late so everyone slowly went home. Marcus was supposed to come so I waited for him to arrive after his family's dinner. While we waited for Marcus, William and I talked for a bit. Marcus came after everyone but me left. Mae, Marcus and I sat down to talk while Marcus and I helped ourselves to the remaining food. We didn't want to stay for too long so we went home after we were done.
On Christmas day, I went to meet up with Kai, Wilson and KW and we had dinner at Sushi Mentai in Sri Petaling. The sushi on the conveyor belt were really cheap and I helped myself to 15 plates of sushi and two cups of chawanmushi. After dinner we sat down at Wilson's place for a short while before we went home.
On Boxing Day, I went jogging with Marcus and Yati like usual, only I woke up really late because I was playing Team Fortress 2 until late and so I only walked one round and then we went for breakfast. After picking Kuui up from his house, we headed to Kaffe Cafe to have breakfast. When breakfast was done, we headed to play badminton with Melvin, Beng and Luke at Sports Planet in Kota Damansara. We played a couple of doubles for an hour or so before going our own way. Yati, Kuui and I went to Yati's house to rest for a bit before heading to 1Utama so I can do my last minute gift shopping for Ethel's Christmas party in the evening. I picked out a teeth shaped ice mould, went to buy drinks and snacks, and then we headed to Marcus' house to play games. Tecky was there and we played Naruto Shippden 2 on Marcus' PlayStation2. Tecky left before we played before we started playing Digimon Rumble Arena 2. After taking a bath and a change of clothes, we then grabbed the drinks I bought and we headed to Ethel's house.
Some people were there already when we got there. Most are same people I've met at last year's Christmas party. Surprisingly Hee Ching approached me, we are only acquaintances in high school, she asked me about my job which, Melvin had already told her about before I arrived and we both agreed that Melvin is a blabbermouth. Marcus, Melvin and Kuui started to help out in the kitchen and it was crowded so I sat out in the living room with the others who I barely know (Yati didn't want to mingle so he squeezed himself in the kitchen). I reintroduced myself to Jovian and vice-versa when he saw me sitting alone, we just chatted a bit and then Jason came over to talk with the guys. Luke and his girlfriend, Carolyn came and they joined in the conversation. I just sat there listening to the others and Yati came out to join me because there was nothing for him to do in the kitchen. Andrea soon came and she was the next person outside my close circle of friends at the party to joyfully greet me. Soon Chelsea came out and served everyone garlic bread with sauteed mushrooms, there was a name for it but I don't remember those fancy names. Shortly Ethel announced that dinner was served and Jason came out with the baked chicken while everyone gathered around the table to help themselves to the food. There was pasta, sushi (bought from somewhere, maybe AEON), quiche, the baked chicken and potato salad. Hou Yi came just before dinner started and Abby next as we started to stop eating. Ethel then got everyone to sit in a huge circle and we did an ice breaker by stating our names and a random info about ourselves; I noticed that I was wearing the same shirt last year. Right after everyone introduced themselves, we got into groups of four and we played charades. I was put together with Beng, Josh, Vikram and Woan. Our team was doing great, we were leading everyone by two points until the bonus round where shit hit the ceiling because Jason decided to make the game harder by not having a specific category for his words. Our team was spot on for the answers a couple of times but we were too wary to lose points so we failed to answer them as the other team got them right. In the end, Luke's team won. Shaun and his girlfriend came the last round before the bonus round started. Right after charades, we did the gift exchange. Jason got my gift and I got Hou Yi's, which was a colour changing mug. A few people went home but the rest of us were totally up for games. We split into two groups, one played Cards Against Humanity and the other played Mafia. Yati, Andrea, Abby, Derek, Kuui, Jerrica, Luke, Shaun, Keith and I played Cards Against Humanity, it was great fun but my cards were crap so I only managed to win one black card whereas Kuui was racking in black cards with the epic cards he got. When we finished it was already midnight and people started going home. Abby was not feeling well and I had to pick my sister up, so I thanked Ethel for the party, bid everyone farewell and wished a happy new year, and I chatted with Abby until I dropped her home. I has been a long time since I last actually chat with Abby.
So that was the end of this year's Christmas and 2016 is just around the corner. I must say that this Christmas has been by far the most eventful Christmas I've ever had. I not only attended Christmas parties, I also ate a lot of good food and met new friends and caught up with old friends. Unfortunately it seems to me that this Christmas is also the time when I lose my friendship with good friend, she decides to push me away and not open up her mind, it is something she's brought upon herself so I shouldn't interfere with her decisions because I've already used up my chances already anyway. But hey, it's life, nothing I should be bothered too much about. Merry Christmas everybody.
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
The Boat Resting Atop Three Skyscrapers
On the second week of December, Steven, Owen and I went down to Singapore as a business trip to help with the setting up of the new Hamleys outlet opening at Marina Bay Sands. On Monday morning, we met up at McDonald's in KLIA2. After checking in our luggages, we headed to the departure hall to wait for our flight but it arrived slightly late. Upon getting onto the plane, the pilot apologised and informed us that there was a minor problem with the plane's pressure thing or something like that. While we sat in the plane, the engineers solved the issue after over one hour and forty five minutes. I slept dozed in and out of sleep on the flight and we reached Changi Airport safely. Steven lead us out after the immigration gates and we purchased our EZ-Link cards, which are used for taking the public transport. We proceeded to board the MRT and headed to Dhoby Ghaut. Our first stop was not our hotel, instead we headed to the Hamleys store in Plaza Singapura to drop off some items from Steven's luggage that was brought over for the store. Steven introduced the Singaporean team to us, Kelvin, Daphne, Beng Chee, Chester, Shirley, Jeremy and Fazzila. While Steven settled some stuff, Owen and I toured around the store. Because I was in work mode, it wasn't long before I was itching with the urge to notify someone that there were issues with the displays but Steven told me not to do so because the store is in the middle of transferring stocks for the new outlet so it was unavoidable that the store would be in a mess. After Steven settled the issues, we then collect our luggage and headed down to City Hall to check in to our hotel, the Peninsula Excelsior Hotel. After settling down for a bit, Owen went out to meet some friends. Steven had to go back to Plaza Singapura and I had nothing to do so I followed him. We went to have dinner at Mos Burger before going to the store. Mos Burger is a Japanese fast food restaurant who's highlight on the menu are their rice burgers. Steven had recommended it and boy, it was really good. After the succulent dinner, we headed back to the toy store and helped prepare for the transfer of goods. After we were done packing up on our part, Steven and I headed back to the hotel to find Owen back there all ready to sleep. Our room was a two person room so I shared the bed with Steven. Before we went to sleep, I updated Feng and my cousin, Dominic about my status. I had already informed them that I would be going down to Singapore for work the week before so they were expecting to see me. After that Steven, Owen and I went to sleep, w all knocked out pretty fast, probably tired from the delayed trip down.
The next morning, the three of us went to Raffles City to have breakfast. After inspecting the few restaurants, we settled for Nam Nam, a Vietnamese restaurant that had an attractive breakfast set on offer. I ordered a bowl of beef pho while Steven and Owen got a banh mi each. It was pretty damn good. After breakfast, we took the MRT and headed to Bayfront. It took us a while to figure out which trains to take but we got there just fine. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands was more than I expected. It was such a lavish mall, a majority of the shops there are expensive brands and there is a section of the mall that is dedicated to high class brands, so luxurious that I've never heard of the names and the items on display are so elegant, posh and extravagant. There was even a shoe shiner in that section. We were not sure where the new store is located so Steven brought us up to the ground floor to see this bowl shaped construct outside the mall. I later learned that this construct, called the Rain Oculus was an installation by some architect dude. Steven mentioned how the Rain Oculus can make sound travel through it from opposite ends so that if you whispered from one end of the bowl, another person on the opposite side can hear it. While we waited for Fazzila to come and show us the way to the new store, I walked around near the entrance to see the torch that was set up for the 8th ASEAN Para Games. After a while, Fazzila showed up and we walked to the new store together. It was located at the end of one of the blocks, and the first thing I noticed was the Christmas decoration set up right outside, before I noticed the massive DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe on the top floor facing Hamleys on the opposite side. I didn't get to go of course, we were working after all. Unfortunately, when we walked into the hoarding, we found that constructions were still in the middle of work. Workers were still installing the air vents, wiring and solving some plumbing issues. What's worse is that we found out that the stocks transfer that was supposed to be done the night before was not executed. It was postponed to Tuesday night and so we were left with nothing to do. We tried to make this trip productive so we fixed the height for the wall bay headers and started adjust them. After that we were left with absolutely nothing to do so I informed Feng that I was done for the day. Dominic had class so he had told me that he couldn't see me this day. Feng and I later arranged to meet up after lunch. Steven, Owen and I went to Plaza Singapura to have lunch at the food court before going our own way. Steven passed me the card key for our hotel room because I was going back to change first. Before we did go our separate ways, Steven and I went to buy some cans of beer for the few nights ahead of us. I took the MRT alone back to the hotel with a feeling of adventure because it was my first time going somewhere alone in a foreign country.
At the hotel, I took a bath, changed and then headed down when Feng messaged me that she had reached the City Hall station. I went out and before the pedestrian crossing I spotted her coming my way but she didn't notice me. I called out to her and she was taken by surprise because she thought I was another guy behind me. She said I had gotten skinnier and the first thing she pointed out was that I was slouching, something that she always tells me whenever we meet. It has been about three years since we last met and there were a few things we didn't quite remember about each other, like how I didn't remember Feng being taller than me. Feng however noted about how I'm still the same as ever. I barely explored Singapore before so Feng became my tour guide and we walked around the small section of the south of Singapore. First we walked past the National Gallery towards the Esplanade. We then made a turn and walked past the Victoria Theatre. I stopped to take some photos of these giant balls outside the Asian Civilisations Museum then we walked across the Anderson Bridge towards Fullerton Hotel where I told Feng that I've never seen the Merlion before. She then took me to see it which stood majestically facing Marina Bay Sands. It was less impressive than I had imagined it however. Feng then took me past the Esplanade towards Marina Square. She had told me about her favourite dessert place called Llaollao that serves frozen yoghurt with fruits and various toppings, it tasted way better than any of the frozen yoghurt desserts I've tried before. After the scrumptious dessert, Feng took me over to the Helix Bridge which lead into The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. She lead me up the longest escalator which took us up to the roof where we got a view of the bay. On the roof we walked through Marina Bay Sands towards the Gardens by the Bay. Feng told me about the light show that happens in the evening but it was still early, so we walked into the area and had a look at the Christmas decorations. Feng managed to convince me to climb up to the canopy walk but when we queued up to buy tickets, the management informed us that ticket sales have stopped because of the poor weather conditions. I was half relieved and half disappointed. We walked back to the vantage point of the Gardens by the Bay but we left before the light show because Feng was concerned about not making it in time for dinner unless we took the MRT, however I insisted not to take the MRT because I'd rather walk where walking is so safe (unlike in Malaysia). We walked back to the Helix Bridge and took some photos of the bridge because of it's beautiful night lights. Then we made our way back to Fullerton Road and towards Boat Quay. The whole street was lined with pubs and seafood restaurants. Eventually we made our way to Brewerkz at Clarke Quay. We got our table and we ordered a pizza to be shared and a pint of beer each. I got a lager and she got wheat beer when she actually wanted steamed beer but had at first ordered some kind of hop, basically she made her order wrong twice. Obviously I got tipsy and Feng was such a dear and guided me back to the hotel. We took the MRT but along the way I was already sobering up. I had a really good time catching up with Feng and I am thankful for her kindest hospitality. We chatted for a bit while she waited for her friend to pick her up outside the hotel. That night I knocked out after a bath on the sofa chair in our room.
The next morning, Steven had to rush to the new store because he was informed of some issues so Owen and I went to have breakfast together at Nam Nam again. I tried one of the banh mi this time and it was so good too. After breakfast we headed to The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and started working. The stocks were already transferred over so we could display some of the products on the wall bays. We split into three teams and we got to work. I started off by teaching my team on how to do product display, I was still nervous about talking to new people and I don't quite know how to translate the stuff that goes through my head when doing product display so I wasn't sure if those guys understood what I was saying. Steven called for an early lunch and a group of us took the MRT to Chinatown for lunch. We ate at a Chinese food court and I ordered a bowl of mee pok. Over lunch we got to know the staff better. We went back to the store after lunch and continued to do displays. We were done before 7pm so everyone else went home but Owen and I had to wait for Steven to settle some operational issues. We then went for dinner at the Plaza Singapura food court, however we didn't have a lot of choices to choose from this time because a lot of the stores had already closed at 9pm. I ordered a bowl of la mian which was the most appetising looking store of the ones that were still open. That night Steven kicked me off the bed in his sleep in the middle of the night. His leg was taking up my part of the bed so I had no choice but to sleep on the sofa chair again, it wasn't that bad.
Thursday morning, the three of us had breakfast at the Plaza Singapura food court because Steven had told us about the breakfast set there being good. It wasn't that bad but the egg tarts there were wet and gross. On the way to the store, Steven and Owen were busy on their phones so we made a few mistakes getting to Bayfront. We first got on the wrong platform, then we got on the wrong train on the right platform and finally we went the wrong direction to The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Dominic came to find me during lunch and he convinced me to try the McDonald's there. We headed to Chinatown and I got the McSpicy, the Singaporean equivalent of our Spicy McChicken Deluxe, only better but slightly less spicy. I also tried the seasonal truffle shaker fries seasoning which made my french fries taste like mushrooms, it was amazing! After lunch Dominic walked me back to the store and we parted. Someone had bought Pizza Hut for the managers to eat and they had a whole pizza (put together with three different pizzas) left for me, along with garlic bread and chicken drumsticks. I only ate one slice because I wasn't that hungry. We continued to work until 8:30pm. After that we headed out to find dinner. It was late already so most of the restaurants are already closed. It was so odd to me because in Malaysia our restaurants close at 10pm and we also have mamaks that are still open in the wee hours of the morning. Steven and Owen had no choice but to go to McDonald's. I had the leftover pizza from lunch so I was good. They had their meals on takeout and we headed back to the hotel to eat. After my cold dinner, I drank my double can of beer and then we went to sleep.
Friday morning is my last morning. I was gonna be flying back to Singapore alone because Steven is leaving on Saturday and Owen is going to Johor Bahru. I had some plans so I left early with my luggage. My first stop was at Chinatown, I went to buy some souvenirs and I spotted a sex toy shop. I wanted to mischievously check it out but it was close so I abandoned the plan and took the MRT to Changi Airport. I went through the gates and walked around the departure hall. There were a lot of things to see. The airport was so much better than KLIA, I got to see a plane leaving after the passengers boarded it. After checking out the Social Tree, I went to look for the thing I had the full intention of looking for, gummy candy. I knew for sure that they would be selling the real deal which was non-halal, the one with pork gelatin instead of beef. I walked into one of the candy stores and found an isle of them, it took me quite a while to decide because they had a free gift if I purchased three packets of gummy candies but I only wanted two, and if I had purchased three, I wouldn't have been able to get the lunch I was aiming for. So I just got a packet of juicy gummy bears and a a packet of gummy aeroplanes. After that I headed to Burger King. On our first day, Steven told us that the Burger King in Changi Airport serves their burgers exceptionally big, compared to the retail outlets outside (no need to compare to Malaysia's) and so I went there to have my lunch, and sure enough, the burger I ordered was huge. It was bigger than my palm, as big as my face! I ordered their seasonal Gourmeji Mushroom Swiss burger. It was too good to be true. The burger was bursting with the delicious taste of mushrooms and cheese and beef. I kept wishing that I could stay in Singapore with each bite. The flight back home was smooth and fast.
The business trip down to Singapore has assured my indecision to go down there to find a job. Hopefully I can get transferred there after I enquire Steven about doing so. The transport system there is so organised and swift, getting one place to another is a breeze and because of that there's no need to drive. People in Singapore may not be as polite, but the food there is reasonably cheap. Also, for the dough, I'd go there so I can help my family with the bills and also support my two sisters' education.
The next morning, the three of us went to Raffles City to have breakfast. After inspecting the few restaurants, we settled for Nam Nam, a Vietnamese restaurant that had an attractive breakfast set on offer. I ordered a bowl of beef pho while Steven and Owen got a banh mi each. It was pretty damn good. After breakfast, we took the MRT and headed to Bayfront. It took us a while to figure out which trains to take but we got there just fine. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands was more than I expected. It was such a lavish mall, a majority of the shops there are expensive brands and there is a section of the mall that is dedicated to high class brands, so luxurious that I've never heard of the names and the items on display are so elegant, posh and extravagant. There was even a shoe shiner in that section. We were not sure where the new store is located so Steven brought us up to the ground floor to see this bowl shaped construct outside the mall. I later learned that this construct, called the Rain Oculus was an installation by some architect dude. Steven mentioned how the Rain Oculus can make sound travel through it from opposite ends so that if you whispered from one end of the bowl, another person on the opposite side can hear it. While we waited for Fazzila to come and show us the way to the new store, I walked around near the entrance to see the torch that was set up for the 8th ASEAN Para Games. After a while, Fazzila showed up and we walked to the new store together. It was located at the end of one of the blocks, and the first thing I noticed was the Christmas decoration set up right outside, before I noticed the massive DC Comics Super Heroes Cafe on the top floor facing Hamleys on the opposite side. I didn't get to go of course, we were working after all. Unfortunately, when we walked into the hoarding, we found that constructions were still in the middle of work. Workers were still installing the air vents, wiring and solving some plumbing issues. What's worse is that we found out that the stocks transfer that was supposed to be done the night before was not executed. It was postponed to Tuesday night and so we were left with nothing to do. We tried to make this trip productive so we fixed the height for the wall bay headers and started adjust them. After that we were left with absolutely nothing to do so I informed Feng that I was done for the day. Dominic had class so he had told me that he couldn't see me this day. Feng and I later arranged to meet up after lunch. Steven, Owen and I went to Plaza Singapura to have lunch at the food court before going our own way. Steven passed me the card key for our hotel room because I was going back to change first. Before we did go our separate ways, Steven and I went to buy some cans of beer for the few nights ahead of us. I took the MRT alone back to the hotel with a feeling of adventure because it was my first time going somewhere alone in a foreign country.
At the hotel, I took a bath, changed and then headed down when Feng messaged me that she had reached the City Hall station. I went out and before the pedestrian crossing I spotted her coming my way but she didn't notice me. I called out to her and she was taken by surprise because she thought I was another guy behind me. She said I had gotten skinnier and the first thing she pointed out was that I was slouching, something that she always tells me whenever we meet. It has been about three years since we last met and there were a few things we didn't quite remember about each other, like how I didn't remember Feng being taller than me. Feng however noted about how I'm still the same as ever. I barely explored Singapore before so Feng became my tour guide and we walked around the small section of the south of Singapore. First we walked past the National Gallery towards the Esplanade. We then made a turn and walked past the Victoria Theatre. I stopped to take some photos of these giant balls outside the Asian Civilisations Museum then we walked across the Anderson Bridge towards Fullerton Hotel where I told Feng that I've never seen the Merlion before. She then took me to see it which stood majestically facing Marina Bay Sands. It was less impressive than I had imagined it however. Feng then took me past the Esplanade towards Marina Square. She had told me about her favourite dessert place called Llaollao that serves frozen yoghurt with fruits and various toppings, it tasted way better than any of the frozen yoghurt desserts I've tried before. After the scrumptious dessert, Feng took me over to the Helix Bridge which lead into The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. She lead me up the longest escalator which took us up to the roof where we got a view of the bay. On the roof we walked through Marina Bay Sands towards the Gardens by the Bay. Feng told me about the light show that happens in the evening but it was still early, so we walked into the area and had a look at the Christmas decorations. Feng managed to convince me to climb up to the canopy walk but when we queued up to buy tickets, the management informed us that ticket sales have stopped because of the poor weather conditions. I was half relieved and half disappointed. We walked back to the vantage point of the Gardens by the Bay but we left before the light show because Feng was concerned about not making it in time for dinner unless we took the MRT, however I insisted not to take the MRT because I'd rather walk where walking is so safe (unlike in Malaysia). We walked back to the Helix Bridge and took some photos of the bridge because of it's beautiful night lights. Then we made our way back to Fullerton Road and towards Boat Quay. The whole street was lined with pubs and seafood restaurants. Eventually we made our way to Brewerkz at Clarke Quay. We got our table and we ordered a pizza to be shared and a pint of beer each. I got a lager and she got wheat beer when she actually wanted steamed beer but had at first ordered some kind of hop, basically she made her order wrong twice. Obviously I got tipsy and Feng was such a dear and guided me back to the hotel. We took the MRT but along the way I was already sobering up. I had a really good time catching up with Feng and I am thankful for her kindest hospitality. We chatted for a bit while she waited for her friend to pick her up outside the hotel. That night I knocked out after a bath on the sofa chair in our room.
The next morning, Steven had to rush to the new store because he was informed of some issues so Owen and I went to have breakfast together at Nam Nam again. I tried one of the banh mi this time and it was so good too. After breakfast we headed to The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and started working. The stocks were already transferred over so we could display some of the products on the wall bays. We split into three teams and we got to work. I started off by teaching my team on how to do product display, I was still nervous about talking to new people and I don't quite know how to translate the stuff that goes through my head when doing product display so I wasn't sure if those guys understood what I was saying. Steven called for an early lunch and a group of us took the MRT to Chinatown for lunch. We ate at a Chinese food court and I ordered a bowl of mee pok. Over lunch we got to know the staff better. We went back to the store after lunch and continued to do displays. We were done before 7pm so everyone else went home but Owen and I had to wait for Steven to settle some operational issues. We then went for dinner at the Plaza Singapura food court, however we didn't have a lot of choices to choose from this time because a lot of the stores had already closed at 9pm. I ordered a bowl of la mian which was the most appetising looking store of the ones that were still open. That night Steven kicked me off the bed in his sleep in the middle of the night. His leg was taking up my part of the bed so I had no choice but to sleep on the sofa chair again, it wasn't that bad.
Thursday morning, the three of us had breakfast at the Plaza Singapura food court because Steven had told us about the breakfast set there being good. It wasn't that bad but the egg tarts there were wet and gross. On the way to the store, Steven and Owen were busy on their phones so we made a few mistakes getting to Bayfront. We first got on the wrong platform, then we got on the wrong train on the right platform and finally we went the wrong direction to The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. Dominic came to find me during lunch and he convinced me to try the McDonald's there. We headed to Chinatown and I got the McSpicy, the Singaporean equivalent of our Spicy McChicken Deluxe, only better but slightly less spicy. I also tried the seasonal truffle shaker fries seasoning which made my french fries taste like mushrooms, it was amazing! After lunch Dominic walked me back to the store and we parted. Someone had bought Pizza Hut for the managers to eat and they had a whole pizza (put together with three different pizzas) left for me, along with garlic bread and chicken drumsticks. I only ate one slice because I wasn't that hungry. We continued to work until 8:30pm. After that we headed out to find dinner. It was late already so most of the restaurants are already closed. It was so odd to me because in Malaysia our restaurants close at 10pm and we also have mamaks that are still open in the wee hours of the morning. Steven and Owen had no choice but to go to McDonald's. I had the leftover pizza from lunch so I was good. They had their meals on takeout and we headed back to the hotel to eat. After my cold dinner, I drank my double can of beer and then we went to sleep.
Friday morning is my last morning. I was gonna be flying back to Singapore alone because Steven is leaving on Saturday and Owen is going to Johor Bahru. I had some plans so I left early with my luggage. My first stop was at Chinatown, I went to buy some souvenirs and I spotted a sex toy shop. I wanted to mischievously check it out but it was close so I abandoned the plan and took the MRT to Changi Airport. I went through the gates and walked around the departure hall. There were a lot of things to see. The airport was so much better than KLIA, I got to see a plane leaving after the passengers boarded it. After checking out the Social Tree, I went to look for the thing I had the full intention of looking for, gummy candy. I knew for sure that they would be selling the real deal which was non-halal, the one with pork gelatin instead of beef. I walked into one of the candy stores and found an isle of them, it took me quite a while to decide because they had a free gift if I purchased three packets of gummy candies but I only wanted two, and if I had purchased three, I wouldn't have been able to get the lunch I was aiming for. So I just got a packet of juicy gummy bears and a a packet of gummy aeroplanes. After that I headed to Burger King. On our first day, Steven told us that the Burger King in Changi Airport serves their burgers exceptionally big, compared to the retail outlets outside (no need to compare to Malaysia's) and so I went there to have my lunch, and sure enough, the burger I ordered was huge. It was bigger than my palm, as big as my face! I ordered their seasonal Gourmeji Mushroom Swiss burger. It was too good to be true. The burger was bursting with the delicious taste of mushrooms and cheese and beef. I kept wishing that I could stay in Singapore with each bite. The flight back home was smooth and fast.
The business trip down to Singapore has assured my indecision to go down there to find a job. Hopefully I can get transferred there after I enquire Steven about doing so. The transport system there is so organised and swift, getting one place to another is a breeze and because of that there's no need to drive. People in Singapore may not be as polite, but the food there is reasonably cheap. Also, for the dough, I'd go there so I can help my family with the bills and also support my two sisters' education.
Monday, December 14, 2015
Skylines and Nature in Miri
On the last week of November, Marcus and I went on a short trip to Miri to visit Mae because it was already the school holidays. When Marcus told me about it, it felt kinda spontaneous. It wasn't very well planned and when he told her that we'd be visiting, she informed us that she'll be going for a run on the last day we'd be there. One thing lead to another and she registered us for the run as well and that meant that there was no turning back. After a few days we bought our flight tickets to Miri.
I was lucky that I had a replacement off day at work so the Friday of our flight, I got to sleep in and take my time packing my bag. I still woke up pretty early and I double checked my inventory before heading out. My dad dropped me at Kelana Jaya where to took the LRT to KL Sentral and because Marcus was working half the day, he wasn't there yet. It was still early so took a walk around Nu Sentral.
When Marcus arrived, we took a bus to KLIA2. I was kinda sleepy so I slept on the journey there. We got to the airport and went into the boarding hall but then we found out that our flight was delayed so we reached Miri about an hour later than planned. Mae was waiting for us at the arrival gates at the Miri Airport. With the way she was dressed, she looked like when we were still in secondary school, in a shorts shirt and track pants, carrying a backpack, I almost didn't notice it was her until she greeted us (also because my astigmatism kicks in at night). We proceeded to have supper at McDonald's because Marcus and I missed dinner thanks to the flight delay. After supper, Mae took us through the town and headed towards our chalet. Mae had booked us a longhouse to stay for the two day trip. To our shock, the gate was closed when we arrived. Maybe it was because it was so late already, so we tried to call the number provided on their website. A guy answered my call and after waiting for a while, someone opened the gate for us and we went in. The person who opened for us was a worker there and it seemed like everyone has gone to sleep. Because it was so late already, the guy just gave us a key and told us that they'll settle the room tomorrow, so our room was temporary. Frankly I was surprised because the guys was so trusting of us as to just give us a random room before properly checking us in. After bathing, we all went to sleep.
Mae had class in the morning so when Marcus and I woke up, she was already gone. Mae's class was something about self reflection or something like that so she was hoping that her class would end earlier than expected. After getting dressed and ready, Marcus and I went to the canteen to settle our room. There was a lady there who we assumed is the lady boss of the chalet. We informed her of the situation last night and she offered us a better offer for our accommodation and somehow we got back RM3. The worker who attended to us last night came and the lady boss and him talked. Then they approached us because there was a misunderstanding. The worker thought we didn't have a booking and the lady boss thought we paid for the room last night. After showing the lady boss our Agoda booking number, she informed us that we actually had booked for the more modern longhouse with fan room but because of the misunderstanding they decided to let us keep the discounted air conditioned room. After the confusing episode, we ordered breakfast (Maggi mee) and after that we walked around the compound to look-see. The place was very close to nature, there were a lot of chickens running around, huge lakes and a jungle around the place. A longhouse in the middle of construction stood beside the one we were staying in and a modern looking longhouse, which was where our supposed room is on the other side.
After sitting in our room for a bit, Marcus and I decided to walk out and see what there is to do. Near the entrance, we asked the worker what there is to see and he told us that there is a beach on the opposite side of the road. So Marcus and I walked out and sure enough, there was a beautiful, empty wide beach accompanied by the beautiful bright sky. There wasn't another one else besides us on the beach. The beach stretched out endlessly on both sides and the sea goes out into the horizon, with one or two oil rigs far off into the distance. There were tens of thousands of holes in the sand, made by tiny little crabs which skitter away swiftly like they're carried away by the wind when we approach them. We came across three jellyfish that got washed up onto the beach. One of them was massive. As an obligatory act, I picked up a stick and poked one of the jellyfish with it. It was harder than I thought, like a thick gelatinous blob, it felt icky. We spent some time walking around on the beach under the hot sun and then soon decided to go back when Mae messaged us, telling us that her class has ended early and that she will be with us soon. We walked back to the chalet and turned on the television in our room. After flicking around the channels, we came across this show about the police force but it seemed more like a love drama than a police drama.
Mae finally arrived with her change of clothes for the next day and we headed out after she changed out of her baju kurung that she wears to class. Mae took us to eat Dayak food at a zhapfan shop. The cooking style is similar to Chinese food but it has a different taste to it. I enjoyed the dishes I picked but I had close to no idea what I was eating. After lunch, Mae took us to Canada Hill to see the Grand Old Lady. She was really old, at 105 years old, standing tall in front of the Petroleum Museum. If you're not catching my drift, the Grand Old Lady is the first rig for the first oil well in Malaysia. Canada Hill seemed to me like the vantage point of Miri, you could see miles and miles into the distance beyond the city, and the amount of sky you get to see from up there was stunningly beautiful. After walking around the Petroleum Museum, Mae showed us the hiking trail she occasionally takes which was just opposite the museum.
After that we got back into the car and we headed to the Imperial Mall, next to the Imperial Hotel so that Mae can show us how lousy the malls in Miri are compared to the ones we have in KL. The mall wasn't as bad as described, but Mae was right when she said that half of the mall is like 1Utama and the other half is like Sungei Wang Plaza. We walked around and we went to Super Save, it's this shop that's like the combination of Tesco, Econsave and Fun and Cheer. You could find just about anything there and buy it cheap. We bought some bottles of water and I saw a guy buy an electric drill there. I guess that tells enough about what the shop is like. We went out with our water and as we walked by a similar shop, Marcus pointed out that he saw baseball gloves in the store, I quickly turned around and went in to inspect. Sure enough, there were an assortment of sport equipment in there, and I found baseball gloves, balls and bats and they were really cheap too! But the same can be said for the quality. We then walked around the store and looked around. Mae had a good laugh when we were trying to lift some weights and I hurt my back doing so. Before we left, I thought of looking for the phone pouch that runner wear when running and when I told Marcus and Mae about it, Mae mentioned that Super Save has them, so we went back in and I bought one. Before we left the mall for good, we passed by a bag shop and I remembered about the flat pouch that can expand, it was useful for runs so we went in to look for it but unfortunately they didn't have it. Mae said that she remembered seeing it at Super Save so we'll try and find it the next time we go there.
I was evening already so we were getting ready to go for dinner but before that, Mae needed to exchange cars with her friend because Mae's car can't travel long distances. We needed her friend's car so that we can go to Gua Niah the next day. It was raining by the time we got to her friend's house (the house her friends' are renting) so we had to do the exchange in the rain. It was a peculiar and funny feeling meeting new people while getting soaked in the rain. After the exchange, Mae went to her house first (the house she's renting) to grab some stuff. After that we went to this place called Rumah Asap (which translates to Smoke House). The reason it's called Rumah Asap is because the place is like a hawker centre but every stall is selling barbecued or grilled food, so there's all the smoke, hence the name. We sat down in front of one of the stalls that Mae said is her favourite and then she went and order the food for us. The dishes that came were delicious, first came grilled fish, it was crispy on the outside and deliciously soft on the inside. Together with the sauce provided, it was so delicious. The second dish that came was the grilled pork, like siew yok. It was really damn good too! The skin was beautifully crispy, the meat was tender and the fatty layer was easy to chew. What's more was that the fish and the pork both has this exquisite smell and flavour to them, it was a beautiful glaze of sour over the juicy meat that seemed to melt in my mouth, just remembering it as I type this out is making me salivate, just like how I did when I absorbed their aroma into my nasal cavity. Not the best way to describe that but damn it was too damn palatable to resist.
After the mouthwatering dinner, we went to the Super Save opposite because Marcus said he wanted to buy the phone pouch I got as well. While Marcus went ahead, Mae went to ask one of the staff at the restaurant where we can buy tuak. Mae said that because we're in Sarawak, we had to get tuak. After getting advice to find it at the night market, we headed to Super Save to catch up with Marcus. We walked round and round the shop but we couldn't find the phone pouch but before we gave up, Marcus suddenly found it and Mae also spotted the expandable pouch I was looking for. So we made our purchase and headed to the night market. The night market was just nearby so we walked over and Mae started scanning from stall to stall looking for the bottles of alcohol. We finally found a stall that sold them and she had a taste before buying one. She mentioned that it had a masculine taste to it and that we should like it so she bought one and I got a comb of bananas. After that we headed into the complex right next to the night market because Mae wanted to find some cups for us to pour our tuak into. While we waited for her outside the supermarket, Marcus and I watched this disgusting cannibal themed clip of a movie being played on one of the DVD shops. A guy was getting revoltingly dismembered limb from limb and head after having his tongue and eyes gorged out by some generically portrayed native people lead by a witchdoctor type, all while his caucasian friends watch in horror. This brought upon some memories from the depths of my head from my childhood where I remember watching gory B-type horror movies outside DVD shops. This terrible trend has stopped in KL but I guess it hasn't in lesser areas. I wonder why DVD vendors find it fine to play such sickening films for people to see, what sparked them to do it. When the clip replayed, Marcus and I turned away to not see the stomach churning scene again. Thankfully shortly after that, Mae returned with some small paper cups and we made our way out back to the car.
Before we made our way back to the chalet, we dropped by a shop that sold tau fu far to have some dessert. The shop was run by the parents of one of Mae's students, who was at the counter. The place was like a cafe, it had coffee tables, cakes on display and soft music playing. The atmosphere was really nice. Mae helped us ordered the tau fu far, including one black sesame flavoured tau fu far. The tau fu far was different from the one we know in a way that it was prepared and served. Marcus got a slice of cake and he let us have a taste, it was pretty good. After the dessert, we went back to chalet and we played the card games I brought with me. We played Coup and Saboteur while drinking the tuak. After a few rounds we went to sleep because we had to wake up early for the run in the morning.
The next morning, we went to Beach Republic for the Miri Beach Run. It was a 10km run along the beach. After we parked the car, we met up with Mae's friends who are also in Teach For Malaysia. We did warm ups and then headed down to the beach to get ready to run. The run was absolutely scenic but it got boring and bland fast because it was just a straight run and the way and back. There was nothing to see but trees, the sea and the sky. It was beautiful but while running, it wasn't very motivating. Also, running on the sand is different from running on the road, pavement or grass. After the run, we met with more of Mae's friends from TFM. We all went to take a group photo and then headed for lunch. Mae recommended that we try the Sarawakian laksa at this restaurant called Lolita which was located in a housing area. Sarawakian laksa is like Hokkien mee, a lot of prawn taste but in a curry based soup or something like that. While we ate, the others were chatting and from that Marcus and I could learn about them. Mae sure has got some good company with her. I can tell that everyone there were friendly and welcoming.
After lunch, we headed back to the chalet and we showered a bit and changed into fresh clothes for our next agenda. Marcus took the wheel this time to let Mae rest and we headed to Gua Niah. The journey to the cave was long and when surprisingly to me, there wasn't a lot of people there for a Sunday. There were like only two groups of us there to see the cave. After we got our tickets, we took an extremely short boat ride across a moat (was it a moat?) to get into the forest areas outside the cave. The three of us walked in as Mae told us about her experience going there for the first time. The walk towards the cave was a beautiful exhibition of greenery that seemed to stretched out endlessly into hills and swamps. The journey took about half and hour before we reached the cave entrance. There we could see what remained of the settlement of the families of bird nest collectors. We continued inward until we reached a huge opening, there we could see what remained of an archeological site and also the place where bird nest collectors climbed tall poles connected to the cave ceiling to reach the bird nests. It was such a marvel that only we could wonder and imagine how bird nest collectors could climb up such tall vertical poles without tire or fear. I was in constant state of fear just looking up at the cave ceiling and also the tall poles that hang motionlessly. We proceeded deeper into the path of the cave following the railing into the dark depths of the cave. Mae and Marcus had brought torchlights and I got my headlamp. Through the darkness, you could still make out the cave interior and also with various openings of the cave, the place was really scenic. Water fell from places I couldn't see, bats squeaked overhead and the smell of guano and limestone mixed in the air, the whole experience made me feel so close to nature despite the manmade structures for easier access into the cave. We made it to the exit of the cave and we continued our journey through more greenery towards the Painted Cave. The Painted Cave wasn't very big. It was like the side of a hill where sunlight touched almost every section of it. A section of the cave had a huge fence with a lock on the gate preventing people from entering it, along the gate were images and a information regarding the cavemen paintings that were present on the walls behind the fence. Mae pointed out that the cavemen paintings inside were the ones we had seen in a history textbook during secondary school, thought neither of us could remember it. However, what we could see on the wall was barely anything, only little smudges of what had been the cavemen paintings. Mae said it could be because people trespassed it to touch the paintings. Tired from out long walk, we sat down on some makeshift benches and ate some of the snakes we brought with us. While she took a rest, Mae told us that further into the cave was a dead end because the location is still under archeological excavation but we'd get to see a small portion of the archeological site where archeologists found a corpse in a boat coffin, the burial methods of the cavemen there. Some boat coffins were left on the cave floor near the other exit which was blocked off by greenery. Made went back shortly after looking around to find Mae had fallen asleep on the makeshift bench. It's no wonder because we had a tiring run in the morning and the cooling breeze blowing from the outside was so calming. We sat around for a while absorbing the tranquil atmosphere. After a while, Mae got up and we headed back out. The journey back felt shorter and faster.
Mae took the wheel again and we headed back to the chalet. Marcus fell asleep at the back and I felt that since I was in the passenger's seat I felt obligated to stay awake and keep Mae company, so we talked about various stuff. I think it was the first time I've had such a long conversation with Mae. We usually had other people around so conversations were shared, also even though we were in secondary school together, we were only in the same class for a year, and I used to be so shy and nervous around her, so it felt good that we could finally hold a proper conversation together. We got back to the chalet and we took a bath and packed our stuff up. After checking out, we went to have dinner at a place Mae had recommended from the day before, the highlight was this vegetable which were leaves like the one from the soup of of a bowl of pan mee, I forgot what it was called again. We also had curry fish head. After that we headed to 7-11 to grab some ice-cream for dessert.
Mae dropped us off at the Miri airport and we exchanged farewells and hugs. Marcus and I headed to the boarding gate and waited for our flight but then we were informed that our flight was delayed by two hours, as an apology by AirAsia, we got ourselves a free meal from Marrybrown. Marcus and I got our meals and we rested until our flight arrived. That night we returned to KL at 3am and so we waited for the first bus back to KL Sentral which was at 4:30am. I went to sleep at Marcus' place before he dropped me off at work. It sure was a tiring morning but the whole experience and journey was totally worth it.
I'd love to go back to Miri again, it's beautiful skies full of clouds is something I love to see everyday. When I checked the photos I had taken in Miri, most of them are of the sky. I think it's not enough thanks to say to Mae who planned out the whole itinerary, hosted and guided us through Miri. Her hospitality is really good. I enjoyed myself a lot and it was great first experience in East Malaysia.
I was lucky that I had a replacement off day at work so the Friday of our flight, I got to sleep in and take my time packing my bag. I still woke up pretty early and I double checked my inventory before heading out. My dad dropped me at Kelana Jaya where to took the LRT to KL Sentral and because Marcus was working half the day, he wasn't there yet. It was still early so took a walk around Nu Sentral.
When Marcus arrived, we took a bus to KLIA2. I was kinda sleepy so I slept on the journey there. We got to the airport and went into the boarding hall but then we found out that our flight was delayed so we reached Miri about an hour later than planned. Mae was waiting for us at the arrival gates at the Miri Airport. With the way she was dressed, she looked like when we were still in secondary school, in a shorts shirt and track pants, carrying a backpack, I almost didn't notice it was her until she greeted us (also because my astigmatism kicks in at night). We proceeded to have supper at McDonald's because Marcus and I missed dinner thanks to the flight delay. After supper, Mae took us through the town and headed towards our chalet. Mae had booked us a longhouse to stay for the two day trip. To our shock, the gate was closed when we arrived. Maybe it was because it was so late already, so we tried to call the number provided on their website. A guy answered my call and after waiting for a while, someone opened the gate for us and we went in. The person who opened for us was a worker there and it seemed like everyone has gone to sleep. Because it was so late already, the guy just gave us a key and told us that they'll settle the room tomorrow, so our room was temporary. Frankly I was surprised because the guys was so trusting of us as to just give us a random room before properly checking us in. After bathing, we all went to sleep.
Mae had class in the morning so when Marcus and I woke up, she was already gone. Mae's class was something about self reflection or something like that so she was hoping that her class would end earlier than expected. After getting dressed and ready, Marcus and I went to the canteen to settle our room. There was a lady there who we assumed is the lady boss of the chalet. We informed her of the situation last night and she offered us a better offer for our accommodation and somehow we got back RM3. The worker who attended to us last night came and the lady boss and him talked. Then they approached us because there was a misunderstanding. The worker thought we didn't have a booking and the lady boss thought we paid for the room last night. After showing the lady boss our Agoda booking number, she informed us that we actually had booked for the more modern longhouse with fan room but because of the misunderstanding they decided to let us keep the discounted air conditioned room. After the confusing episode, we ordered breakfast (Maggi mee) and after that we walked around the compound to look-see. The place was very close to nature, there were a lot of chickens running around, huge lakes and a jungle around the place. A longhouse in the middle of construction stood beside the one we were staying in and a modern looking longhouse, which was where our supposed room is on the other side.
After sitting in our room for a bit, Marcus and I decided to walk out and see what there is to do. Near the entrance, we asked the worker what there is to see and he told us that there is a beach on the opposite side of the road. So Marcus and I walked out and sure enough, there was a beautiful, empty wide beach accompanied by the beautiful bright sky. There wasn't another one else besides us on the beach. The beach stretched out endlessly on both sides and the sea goes out into the horizon, with one or two oil rigs far off into the distance. There were tens of thousands of holes in the sand, made by tiny little crabs which skitter away swiftly like they're carried away by the wind when we approach them. We came across three jellyfish that got washed up onto the beach. One of them was massive. As an obligatory act, I picked up a stick and poked one of the jellyfish with it. It was harder than I thought, like a thick gelatinous blob, it felt icky. We spent some time walking around on the beach under the hot sun and then soon decided to go back when Mae messaged us, telling us that her class has ended early and that she will be with us soon. We walked back to the chalet and turned on the television in our room. After flicking around the channels, we came across this show about the police force but it seemed more like a love drama than a police drama.
Mae finally arrived with her change of clothes for the next day and we headed out after she changed out of her baju kurung that she wears to class. Mae took us to eat Dayak food at a zhapfan shop. The cooking style is similar to Chinese food but it has a different taste to it. I enjoyed the dishes I picked but I had close to no idea what I was eating. After lunch, Mae took us to Canada Hill to see the Grand Old Lady. She was really old, at 105 years old, standing tall in front of the Petroleum Museum. If you're not catching my drift, the Grand Old Lady is the first rig for the first oil well in Malaysia. Canada Hill seemed to me like the vantage point of Miri, you could see miles and miles into the distance beyond the city, and the amount of sky you get to see from up there was stunningly beautiful. After walking around the Petroleum Museum, Mae showed us the hiking trail she occasionally takes which was just opposite the museum.
After that we got back into the car and we headed to the Imperial Mall, next to the Imperial Hotel so that Mae can show us how lousy the malls in Miri are compared to the ones we have in KL. The mall wasn't as bad as described, but Mae was right when she said that half of the mall is like 1Utama and the other half is like Sungei Wang Plaza. We walked around and we went to Super Save, it's this shop that's like the combination of Tesco, Econsave and Fun and Cheer. You could find just about anything there and buy it cheap. We bought some bottles of water and I saw a guy buy an electric drill there. I guess that tells enough about what the shop is like. We went out with our water and as we walked by a similar shop, Marcus pointed out that he saw baseball gloves in the store, I quickly turned around and went in to inspect. Sure enough, there were an assortment of sport equipment in there, and I found baseball gloves, balls and bats and they were really cheap too! But the same can be said for the quality. We then walked around the store and looked around. Mae had a good laugh when we were trying to lift some weights and I hurt my back doing so. Before we left, I thought of looking for the phone pouch that runner wear when running and when I told Marcus and Mae about it, Mae mentioned that Super Save has them, so we went back in and I bought one. Before we left the mall for good, we passed by a bag shop and I remembered about the flat pouch that can expand, it was useful for runs so we went in to look for it but unfortunately they didn't have it. Mae said that she remembered seeing it at Super Save so we'll try and find it the next time we go there.
I was evening already so we were getting ready to go for dinner but before that, Mae needed to exchange cars with her friend because Mae's car can't travel long distances. We needed her friend's car so that we can go to Gua Niah the next day. It was raining by the time we got to her friend's house (the house her friends' are renting) so we had to do the exchange in the rain. It was a peculiar and funny feeling meeting new people while getting soaked in the rain. After the exchange, Mae went to her house first (the house she's renting) to grab some stuff. After that we went to this place called Rumah Asap (which translates to Smoke House). The reason it's called Rumah Asap is because the place is like a hawker centre but every stall is selling barbecued or grilled food, so there's all the smoke, hence the name. We sat down in front of one of the stalls that Mae said is her favourite and then she went and order the food for us. The dishes that came were delicious, first came grilled fish, it was crispy on the outside and deliciously soft on the inside. Together with the sauce provided, it was so delicious. The second dish that came was the grilled pork, like siew yok. It was really damn good too! The skin was beautifully crispy, the meat was tender and the fatty layer was easy to chew. What's more was that the fish and the pork both has this exquisite smell and flavour to them, it was a beautiful glaze of sour over the juicy meat that seemed to melt in my mouth, just remembering it as I type this out is making me salivate, just like how I did when I absorbed their aroma into my nasal cavity. Not the best way to describe that but damn it was too damn palatable to resist.
After the mouthwatering dinner, we went to the Super Save opposite because Marcus said he wanted to buy the phone pouch I got as well. While Marcus went ahead, Mae went to ask one of the staff at the restaurant where we can buy tuak. Mae said that because we're in Sarawak, we had to get tuak. After getting advice to find it at the night market, we headed to Super Save to catch up with Marcus. We walked round and round the shop but we couldn't find the phone pouch but before we gave up, Marcus suddenly found it and Mae also spotted the expandable pouch I was looking for. So we made our purchase and headed to the night market. The night market was just nearby so we walked over and Mae started scanning from stall to stall looking for the bottles of alcohol. We finally found a stall that sold them and she had a taste before buying one. She mentioned that it had a masculine taste to it and that we should like it so she bought one and I got a comb of bananas. After that we headed into the complex right next to the night market because Mae wanted to find some cups for us to pour our tuak into. While we waited for her outside the supermarket, Marcus and I watched this disgusting cannibal themed clip of a movie being played on one of the DVD shops. A guy was getting revoltingly dismembered limb from limb and head after having his tongue and eyes gorged out by some generically portrayed native people lead by a witchdoctor type, all while his caucasian friends watch in horror. This brought upon some memories from the depths of my head from my childhood where I remember watching gory B-type horror movies outside DVD shops. This terrible trend has stopped in KL but I guess it hasn't in lesser areas. I wonder why DVD vendors find it fine to play such sickening films for people to see, what sparked them to do it. When the clip replayed, Marcus and I turned away to not see the stomach churning scene again. Thankfully shortly after that, Mae returned with some small paper cups and we made our way out back to the car.
Before we made our way back to the chalet, we dropped by a shop that sold tau fu far to have some dessert. The shop was run by the parents of one of Mae's students, who was at the counter. The place was like a cafe, it had coffee tables, cakes on display and soft music playing. The atmosphere was really nice. Mae helped us ordered the tau fu far, including one black sesame flavoured tau fu far. The tau fu far was different from the one we know in a way that it was prepared and served. Marcus got a slice of cake and he let us have a taste, it was pretty good. After the dessert, we went back to chalet and we played the card games I brought with me. We played Coup and Saboteur while drinking the tuak. After a few rounds we went to sleep because we had to wake up early for the run in the morning.
The next morning, we went to Beach Republic for the Miri Beach Run. It was a 10km run along the beach. After we parked the car, we met up with Mae's friends who are also in Teach For Malaysia. We did warm ups and then headed down to the beach to get ready to run. The run was absolutely scenic but it got boring and bland fast because it was just a straight run and the way and back. There was nothing to see but trees, the sea and the sky. It was beautiful but while running, it wasn't very motivating. Also, running on the sand is different from running on the road, pavement or grass. After the run, we met with more of Mae's friends from TFM. We all went to take a group photo and then headed for lunch. Mae recommended that we try the Sarawakian laksa at this restaurant called Lolita which was located in a housing area. Sarawakian laksa is like Hokkien mee, a lot of prawn taste but in a curry based soup or something like that. While we ate, the others were chatting and from that Marcus and I could learn about them. Mae sure has got some good company with her. I can tell that everyone there were friendly and welcoming.
After lunch, we headed back to the chalet and we showered a bit and changed into fresh clothes for our next agenda. Marcus took the wheel this time to let Mae rest and we headed to Gua Niah. The journey to the cave was long and when surprisingly to me, there wasn't a lot of people there for a Sunday. There were like only two groups of us there to see the cave. After we got our tickets, we took an extremely short boat ride across a moat (was it a moat?) to get into the forest areas outside the cave. The three of us walked in as Mae told us about her experience going there for the first time. The walk towards the cave was a beautiful exhibition of greenery that seemed to stretched out endlessly into hills and swamps. The journey took about half and hour before we reached the cave entrance. There we could see what remained of the settlement of the families of bird nest collectors. We continued inward until we reached a huge opening, there we could see what remained of an archeological site and also the place where bird nest collectors climbed tall poles connected to the cave ceiling to reach the bird nests. It was such a marvel that only we could wonder and imagine how bird nest collectors could climb up such tall vertical poles without tire or fear. I was in constant state of fear just looking up at the cave ceiling and also the tall poles that hang motionlessly. We proceeded deeper into the path of the cave following the railing into the dark depths of the cave. Mae and Marcus had brought torchlights and I got my headlamp. Through the darkness, you could still make out the cave interior and also with various openings of the cave, the place was really scenic. Water fell from places I couldn't see, bats squeaked overhead and the smell of guano and limestone mixed in the air, the whole experience made me feel so close to nature despite the manmade structures for easier access into the cave. We made it to the exit of the cave and we continued our journey through more greenery towards the Painted Cave. The Painted Cave wasn't very big. It was like the side of a hill where sunlight touched almost every section of it. A section of the cave had a huge fence with a lock on the gate preventing people from entering it, along the gate were images and a information regarding the cavemen paintings that were present on the walls behind the fence. Mae pointed out that the cavemen paintings inside were the ones we had seen in a history textbook during secondary school, thought neither of us could remember it. However, what we could see on the wall was barely anything, only little smudges of what had been the cavemen paintings. Mae said it could be because people trespassed it to touch the paintings. Tired from out long walk, we sat down on some makeshift benches and ate some of the snakes we brought with us. While she took a rest, Mae told us that further into the cave was a dead end because the location is still under archeological excavation but we'd get to see a small portion of the archeological site where archeologists found a corpse in a boat coffin, the burial methods of the cavemen there. Some boat coffins were left on the cave floor near the other exit which was blocked off by greenery. Made went back shortly after looking around to find Mae had fallen asleep on the makeshift bench. It's no wonder because we had a tiring run in the morning and the cooling breeze blowing from the outside was so calming. We sat around for a while absorbing the tranquil atmosphere. After a while, Mae got up and we headed back out. The journey back felt shorter and faster.
Mae took the wheel again and we headed back to the chalet. Marcus fell asleep at the back and I felt that since I was in the passenger's seat I felt obligated to stay awake and keep Mae company, so we talked about various stuff. I think it was the first time I've had such a long conversation with Mae. We usually had other people around so conversations were shared, also even though we were in secondary school together, we were only in the same class for a year, and I used to be so shy and nervous around her, so it felt good that we could finally hold a proper conversation together. We got back to the chalet and we took a bath and packed our stuff up. After checking out, we went to have dinner at a place Mae had recommended from the day before, the highlight was this vegetable which were leaves like the one from the soup of of a bowl of pan mee, I forgot what it was called again. We also had curry fish head. After that we headed to 7-11 to grab some ice-cream for dessert.
Mae dropped us off at the Miri airport and we exchanged farewells and hugs. Marcus and I headed to the boarding gate and waited for our flight but then we were informed that our flight was delayed by two hours, as an apology by AirAsia, we got ourselves a free meal from Marrybrown. Marcus and I got our meals and we rested until our flight arrived. That night we returned to KL at 3am and so we waited for the first bus back to KL Sentral which was at 4:30am. I went to sleep at Marcus' place before he dropped me off at work. It sure was a tiring morning but the whole experience and journey was totally worth it.
I'd love to go back to Miri again, it's beautiful skies full of clouds is something I love to see everyday. When I checked the photos I had taken in Miri, most of them are of the sky. I think it's not enough thanks to say to Mae who planned out the whole itinerary, hosted and guided us through Miri. Her hospitality is really good. I enjoyed myself a lot and it was great first experience in East Malaysia.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
It Was Blank
I've been pretty busy recently with settling into my job steadily and a few other activities.
Just to summarise what happened the past two months;
I attended Victor and Kar Wei's engagement lunch. There was also Kai, Wilson, KW, Chia, Wee and Cardin there. We caught up with each other over the Chinese seven course meal.
I participated in the Lite A Lif3 Charity Run with Rachael. The run is like Spectrum Dash, we had to be in pairs and we were tied to each other. Rachael doesn't run a lot so she can't really run, hence I walked more than I jogged or ran during this event.
I helped at an event job with Hannah. It was a corporate team building event and we were the marshals. Ryan Ryan was supposed to be there but he had exams so he couldn't go. Lydia and Kayla too, but they had a last minute call to meet their dean so they couldn't make it. The event was supposed to be like the Amazing Race kind of event but because of the hazard haze condition, the event was changed into an indoor team building activity in the ballroom of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. I forgot the name of the company but it's German and the employees (and employers) are these people of different ethnic groups from Kazakhstan, France and many more that I failed to take notice. I made friends with Jia Han, a friend of Hannah's. After the event was over, the client was gracious and grateful so they invited us to join their dinner later in the evening. It very generous of them because the dinner was fine dining. There was a free flow of beer and wine, and I ate these exquisite French dishes that had stuff like caviar (which I learn that I dislike) and made from French culinary technique terms that I'm unfamiliar with. It was pretty good and I had my fill.
I went to my company's annual dinner at SOULed OUT at Sri Hartamas. The buffet dinner this year is smaller though the food was better. The dinner theme was James Bond and everyone had to dress like the gentleman spy so I borrowed Ryan's blazer, slapped a few of my clothes together (I can't wear my slacks so I wore black jeans-like pants), a bow tie and somehow I got nominated for best dressed, though I didn't win, I was quite ecstatic (and a whole lot nervous). After dinner we drank beers down at the bar of the restaurant until late. There was a band performance and through a request, Far, KeShan and Ryan got Iman to sing on stage with the band. She didn't want to but went to do it anyway. What a night it was. Thankfully my alcohol tolerance improved so I was only tipsy and I manage to get myself sober before driving home. Luckily I rejected taking the unusual bombs Far and Steven ordered or I might have gotten smashed.
I started playing Quidditch. It started when I saw a Quidditch tournament on Halloween that was open for anyone, experienced and first-timers to join. Yati and I went for it and now I go for Quidditch practice almost every week. The sport is really fun to play, it's like two games going on at once, one is like rugby and the other is like dodgeball.
I went to the Foodgasm Fest with Lydia, Audrey, Kayla, Ryan and Yati, along with a friend of Audrey's who's name I forgot and this guy with Kayla who she didn't introduce. The location was very muddy thanks to the monsoon season bringing in the rain on a daily basis. The food was pretty good and we had quite a good time. During this time I caught up with Lydia, who I haven't talked to in the longest time.
I went to the Gunpla Expo & Builders World Cup 2015 with Saw, Rachael and her brother, who's name starts with R but I forgot. I was really damn lucky getting my hands on one of the last few sets of limited edition Neon Beargguy III and getting Kawaguchi Katsumi's autograph on it. Kawaguchi-san is the inventor of Gunpla. After that we went to check out Mr Gunpla Studio & Cafe in Kota Damansara.
I went to an event job with Ryan, Lydia and Kayla. It was the TLC Festival Malaysia 2015. The whole thing was quite the experience but it wasn't completely in a good light for me. The whole place was muddy, once again thanks to the monsoon season. I was layered with mud and I got a terrible sunburn, which is now a really dark tan on my skin. I can't wait until I become fair again. I heard that Lydia has got a new boyfriend quite some time ago and so I confirmed it with her about it after the event job. She actually didn't want to tell me about it because she was afraid I might ask a lot of questions but I assured her that I won't because there's no reason for me to. I felt happy for her and I took the news better than I thought. Looks like it's time for me to move on.
For the few weekends of November, I went jogging with Yati and Marcus around Bukit Kiara Park and Trail. I don't really know what's the name for the trail but we call it the Park and Trail respectively. The times when I go jogging alone, I got adventurous and I went on to juggle trek in the forest and the mountain bike trails. I got lost twice during both adventures and it wasn't such a bad experience. The first time I got lost I bumped into Xiau Fong. I'm surprised she remembered me because we only knew each other for two days at a scout camping course when we were 16 or 17. The best part about juggle trekking there is how I get to see nature so nearby.
As usual, I'm spending a lot of my money on food. I have to control myself somehow. It's making me constantly broke. Thanks to Groupon, I've been trying out new places. My interest in cafes have also increased. That's pretty bad news for my wallet though.
I somehow got conjunctivitis. It probably started when I accidentally rubbed some aloe vera gel into my eye while applying it to help recover from my sunburns. At first it was only in my right eye, after I went to see the doctor, my left eye got it too. Now it's gotten better and it's not so bad to the point I can't work properly, it's just minor.
Christmas is around the corner. I can't wait.
Just to summarise what happened the past two months;
I attended Victor and Kar Wei's engagement lunch. There was also Kai, Wilson, KW, Chia, Wee and Cardin there. We caught up with each other over the Chinese seven course meal.
I participated in the Lite A Lif3 Charity Run with Rachael. The run is like Spectrum Dash, we had to be in pairs and we were tied to each other. Rachael doesn't run a lot so she can't really run, hence I walked more than I jogged or ran during this event.
I helped at an event job with Hannah. It was a corporate team building event and we were the marshals. Ryan Ryan was supposed to be there but he had exams so he couldn't go. Lydia and Kayla too, but they had a last minute call to meet their dean so they couldn't make it. The event was supposed to be like the Amazing Race kind of event but because of the hazard haze condition, the event was changed into an indoor team building activity in the ballroom of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. I forgot the name of the company but it's German and the employees (and employers) are these people of different ethnic groups from Kazakhstan, France and many more that I failed to take notice. I made friends with Jia Han, a friend of Hannah's. After the event was over, the client was gracious and grateful so they invited us to join their dinner later in the evening. It very generous of them because the dinner was fine dining. There was a free flow of beer and wine, and I ate these exquisite French dishes that had stuff like caviar (which I learn that I dislike) and made from French culinary technique terms that I'm unfamiliar with. It was pretty good and I had my fill.
I went to my company's annual dinner at SOULed OUT at Sri Hartamas. The buffet dinner this year is smaller though the food was better. The dinner theme was James Bond and everyone had to dress like the gentleman spy so I borrowed Ryan's blazer, slapped a few of my clothes together (I can't wear my slacks so I wore black jeans-like pants), a bow tie and somehow I got nominated for best dressed, though I didn't win, I was quite ecstatic (and a whole lot nervous). After dinner we drank beers down at the bar of the restaurant until late. There was a band performance and through a request, Far, KeShan and Ryan got Iman to sing on stage with the band. She didn't want to but went to do it anyway. What a night it was. Thankfully my alcohol tolerance improved so I was only tipsy and I manage to get myself sober before driving home. Luckily I rejected taking the unusual bombs Far and Steven ordered or I might have gotten smashed.
I started playing Quidditch. It started when I saw a Quidditch tournament on Halloween that was open for anyone, experienced and first-timers to join. Yati and I went for it and now I go for Quidditch practice almost every week. The sport is really fun to play, it's like two games going on at once, one is like rugby and the other is like dodgeball.
I went to the Foodgasm Fest with Lydia, Audrey, Kayla, Ryan and Yati, along with a friend of Audrey's who's name I forgot and this guy with Kayla who she didn't introduce. The location was very muddy thanks to the monsoon season bringing in the rain on a daily basis. The food was pretty good and we had quite a good time. During this time I caught up with Lydia, who I haven't talked to in the longest time.
I went to the Gunpla Expo & Builders World Cup 2015 with Saw, Rachael and her brother, who's name starts with R but I forgot. I was really damn lucky getting my hands on one of the last few sets of limited edition Neon Beargguy III and getting Kawaguchi Katsumi's autograph on it. Kawaguchi-san is the inventor of Gunpla. After that we went to check out Mr Gunpla Studio & Cafe in Kota Damansara.
I went to an event job with Ryan, Lydia and Kayla. It was the TLC Festival Malaysia 2015. The whole thing was quite the experience but it wasn't completely in a good light for me. The whole place was muddy, once again thanks to the monsoon season. I was layered with mud and I got a terrible sunburn, which is now a really dark tan on my skin. I can't wait until I become fair again. I heard that Lydia has got a new boyfriend quite some time ago and so I confirmed it with her about it after the event job. She actually didn't want to tell me about it because she was afraid I might ask a lot of questions but I assured her that I won't because there's no reason for me to. I felt happy for her and I took the news better than I thought. Looks like it's time for me to move on.
For the few weekends of November, I went jogging with Yati and Marcus around Bukit Kiara Park and Trail. I don't really know what's the name for the trail but we call it the Park and Trail respectively. The times when I go jogging alone, I got adventurous and I went on to juggle trek in the forest and the mountain bike trails. I got lost twice during both adventures and it wasn't such a bad experience. The first time I got lost I bumped into Xiau Fong. I'm surprised she remembered me because we only knew each other for two days at a scout camping course when we were 16 or 17. The best part about juggle trekking there is how I get to see nature so nearby.
As usual, I'm spending a lot of my money on food. I have to control myself somehow. It's making me constantly broke. Thanks to Groupon, I've been trying out new places. My interest in cafes have also increased. That's pretty bad news for my wallet though.
I somehow got conjunctivitis. It probably started when I accidentally rubbed some aloe vera gel into my eye while applying it to help recover from my sunburns. At first it was only in my right eye, after I went to see the doctor, my left eye got it too. Now it's gotten better and it's not so bad to the point I can't work properly, it's just minor.
Christmas is around the corner. I can't wait.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Aroo! Aroo! Aroo!
Last Sunday, on the 11th of October, Yati and I participated in the Spartan Race Malaysia 2015. The best part, we both got in for free! Yati won his entry from a Facebook competition, while I got in for volunteering for the preparations for the event. Because we had to be on location early, I invited Yati over to sleepover in my house. The race location is near my house so it made things more convenient for him.
I admit I was completely unprepared for the race. I thought I wouldn't be participating because the fees were pricey to me, to my surprise, after I did my volunteer work, the organisers informed us that we get to participate for free. I had only two days to prepare and of course, I didn't.
The day came and I had to register myself on location. Yati's flag off was at 7:45am so I thought I'd join him but when it was my turn to register, that time slot was full. In a state of panic, I registered myself into the 7:30am slot, which was by the time I finished registering, starts in three minutes time. When I reassembled with Yati to drop my bag at the Bag Drop counter, the MC was already calling for my slot so I had no time to do my stretches. Bad. Very bad. I quickly got to the starting line, put on my timing chip and did some light warm ups minutes before they flagged us off.
Now about the obstacles, they were pretty difficult to do but not very. I easily did most of the obstacles, only struggling with two and failed three. I lost count of the number of obstacles but the website said 25+ so yeah, I don't know if they count slopes as obstacles. The first few obstacles were wall climbs, wall climbs are easy for me because I rely a lot on my upper body strength so as long as I can get my hands on the top, I can get over it. After a series of wall climbs and a wall where you had to crawl under, there was a pyramid net, honestly I don't know what to all these obstacles. It was fairly easy as well, I paid attention to the obstacle so I didn't feel any fear from the height. After that was wall scaling, kinda like rock climbing to me, I got over that carefully and swiftly. After some running there was the first one which I needed help with, the objective of the obstacle was to carry a 50kg weight in the shape of a sphere and do five burpees, if you can't carry it alone, you can team up with another person and do ten burpees each instead. I manage to have a guy help me and we passed that obstacle. Right after that was to climb over a negative inclined wall, I thought it was difficult while I was watching other people do it because almost all of them needed help and nobody looked like they were willing to help me, but when I tried it, it was really just like rock climbing, I passed it easily and quickly, to my surprise.
Then my first nightmare came. As I was jogging over to the next obstacle, my left calf started to tense up. I could feel it cramping up so I eased a little and continued but after I scaled a steep slope, my left calf immediately crammed as I got to the top, I fell over in pain and some runners quickly came to my rescue. After they helped me ease my cramp, I quickly made my way to the next obstacle because it's my most favorite obstacle, the vertical rope climb. I do rope climbs at least once a year at scout camps. I pass this one so fast, not even the people who reached before me were done. I noticed a girl, who saw me had my leg cramp earlier, was watching me and had her jaw drop at seeing how fast I went up the rope. However my left leg was cramping up again so I quickly got down and hastily move over to the next obstacle, which was a barbed wire crawl, on mud, sticky, smelly mud. After that crawl I pushed on to the next obstacle but my left leg started to cramp up once again, while I struggled to ease it, the toes in my left foot cramped up instead. I however kept pushing on while I stamped my left foot, trying to ease the cramp which did after a while. The next obstacle was a vertical slope climb where you had to climb up using a rope. Most people I see struggled with it but I saw no problem with it because all you have to do is pull the rope until it's straight, lean back and walk up while keeping the rope in tension.
Right after that obstacle, my right calf started to tense as well, I pushed on and started on the next obstacle which was to carry a sack of sand (I think it was 30kg for guys) up some slopes and back. As I tried to get on the first slope, my right calf cramped up and I fell to the ground. This cramp was so bad I couldn't move at all. Luckily there was a RELA tent set up next to this obstacle so a RELA member monitoring the sacks quickly came to my aid. He then helped me to my feet and helped me walk over to outside the race path, near the tents to rest. Worst part was that while we were going over, my left calf cramped as well so I was stuck with both legs cramped. The RELA guy and another got me two chairs to sit on and gave me their bottle of water. They told me to rest and wait for the medics to come. So I sat there hopelessly, feeling disappointed in myself while I watched people pass by. Eventually Yati arrived at this obstacle. After I told him what happened he continued on while I waited for the medics but they were taking a long time. I sat there for about 45 minutes until a group of media personal came to take photos. One of them offered to spray my legs with his muscle cramp spray (what's that really called?) and after resting for another ten minutes, I pushed on. I thanked the RELA members and the first RELA member who helped me. He said I can just skip this obstacle but I told him I can do it and he cheered me on, "Berusahalah!". After I passed this obstacle, I met my impenetrable wall. It was a pulley where you had to pull an attached weight up to the top of the tall pole. I had cramps in both legs and I am close to underweight, it would have been a stressful feat for me to pull it off. I only manage to pull the weight up to half the pole and I could raise it no more and so I failed, so I had to do my first penalty of 30 burpees.
Feeling defeated but still determined to complete the course I started to limp to the next obstacle. This is the part where everyone got really really dirty. It was a series of mud hills and mud pools. I slid into the smelly pool and helped boost the people before me up the slippery slope, which in turn helped me up the slope as well, this became a chain as I also helped the people behind me and we all got over this obstacle together. During this time, I felt like it was a moment when teamwork and unity was at it's strongest in the whole race. After our muddy bath, the next obstacle, we had to carry a bucket, fill it with stones from a pit to near the brim and carry it around the course before pouring it back into the pit. This wouldn't have been a problem for me, not for how muddy and sticky everything was. Rocks and sand stuck everywhere and carrying the pail hurt because of the sharp ends of all that mineral. I had to make several stops and when I got back to the pit, the marshal helped me pour the rocks back into the pit when he saw me limping.
Disappointment part two came along, after drinking some water and trying to wash the mud off my hands (which didn't work because, mud everywhere) at the water station right after the last obstacle, was the multi-ring obstacle (that's what everyone calls it), it's like monkey bars except there are a variety of hanging supports that can swing. There were polls, rings and ropes to get across. I am very sure I could have passed this but the starting poles were covered in slippery mud, my palms were covered in slippery mud and so I slipped off the obstacle before I could get to the rings. I was sure I would have passed it if only I had a good grip on the ring. I went over to do my burpees but my leg cramped at number twelve. Some media personal came and helped me and told me to skip the burpees.
Right after the multi-ring was another set of wall climbs. This time the walls were much higher but still it's within my range of capabilities. Unfortunately when I jumped up to get over the wall, my right calf cramped up as I was going to use it to hook myself to the top of the wall and I came crashing down in pain. I didn't feel the pain in my left arm when I landed on it because the pain in my calf was overwhelming. Some guys quickly carried me aside and a marshal told them to leave me after they helped me a little and got me to stand for myself and do stretches. Right after I went over to get more muscle spray from the medics nearby, I went back to face the obstacle. A group of tall foreigners had come to the obstacle and one of them was trying to impress a girl in the group to see him do it but he failed at his first attempt. I was right behind him so he let me go next and when I went up and over in one go, they all cheered for me. That boosted my confidence in completing the obstacle course.
After going over some hills, we met with another wall, this time the last one. It's an eight feet wall and many people started to need help with it. The marshal there told us to help each other or find help if needed. After helping some people up, a guy offered to boost me up but I said that I was confident that I could do it by myself but I may need some help. When I my hand on top of the wall and before I can swing my legs up, my left calf cramped up and I let myself down, this time slowly because the cramp wasn't that painful. Two guys helped me ease the cramp and I got back to my feet. With the people who were helping others earlier over the wall already, and my confidence up because I know I can reach the top of the wall, I went over it without help and pushed on into the trail that leads into the hiking track that goes into the hill. I didn't know we had a hiking track here in Setia Alam, when I find the opportunity to, I'll try to hike this hill.
The track in the hill went on for quite a distance, I was struggling most of the time because of the uneven grounds and the cramping in both my legs. With my left leg feeling much worse than the right, I had to limp on my right leg all the way to the end of the obstacle course. When we got out of the hill, the next obstacle course was a javelin throw. I failed this horribly because of my limp and I totally suck at throwing javelins. Before I did my burpees, the marshal there saw my condition and told me to skip the burpees. I am grateful for that. I could have gotten another cramp attack. Right after this the obstacle was to slide down into a pool of mud (which is less thick compared to the previous mud pool), here the thick mud stuck to my shoes came off and I manage to wash off some of the mud along my arms and hands. I proceeded to the next obstacle which is to climb up a metal slope using the rope, like slopes earlier, out of the pool and down the bars on the opposite side. With the finishing line in sight right after it, the last obstacle was a row of burning logs and all we had to do was jump over it to victory.
I limped across the finishing line and got my medal put around my neck for me. I quickly made my way to the refreshments and drank some water before collecting my finisher shirt from the counter. I quickly spotted Yati who had already showered and changed and we went to collect my goodie bag. After I hit the (open air) showers and changed out of my muddy attire, we head back, after taking some commemorative photos.
Spartan Race Malaysia is by far the best obstacle course race I've experienced so far. It was well organized, the obstacles were fun and I had a great time, minus all the times I had my cramps and those feelings of disappointment in myself. I can't wait for the next obstacle course I can attend and next time, I will be ready!
I admit I was completely unprepared for the race. I thought I wouldn't be participating because the fees were pricey to me, to my surprise, after I did my volunteer work, the organisers informed us that we get to participate for free. I had only two days to prepare and of course, I didn't.
The day came and I had to register myself on location. Yati's flag off was at 7:45am so I thought I'd join him but when it was my turn to register, that time slot was full. In a state of panic, I registered myself into the 7:30am slot, which was by the time I finished registering, starts in three minutes time. When I reassembled with Yati to drop my bag at the Bag Drop counter, the MC was already calling for my slot so I had no time to do my stretches. Bad. Very bad. I quickly got to the starting line, put on my timing chip and did some light warm ups minutes before they flagged us off.
Now about the obstacles, they were pretty difficult to do but not very. I easily did most of the obstacles, only struggling with two and failed three. I lost count of the number of obstacles but the website said 25+ so yeah, I don't know if they count slopes as obstacles. The first few obstacles were wall climbs, wall climbs are easy for me because I rely a lot on my upper body strength so as long as I can get my hands on the top, I can get over it. After a series of wall climbs and a wall where you had to crawl under, there was a pyramid net, honestly I don't know what to all these obstacles. It was fairly easy as well, I paid attention to the obstacle so I didn't feel any fear from the height. After that was wall scaling, kinda like rock climbing to me, I got over that carefully and swiftly. After some running there was the first one which I needed help with, the objective of the obstacle was to carry a 50kg weight in the shape of a sphere and do five burpees, if you can't carry it alone, you can team up with another person and do ten burpees each instead. I manage to have a guy help me and we passed that obstacle. Right after that was to climb over a negative inclined wall, I thought it was difficult while I was watching other people do it because almost all of them needed help and nobody looked like they were willing to help me, but when I tried it, it was really just like rock climbing, I passed it easily and quickly, to my surprise.
Then my first nightmare came. As I was jogging over to the next obstacle, my left calf started to tense up. I could feel it cramping up so I eased a little and continued but after I scaled a steep slope, my left calf immediately crammed as I got to the top, I fell over in pain and some runners quickly came to my rescue. After they helped me ease my cramp, I quickly made my way to the next obstacle because it's my most favorite obstacle, the vertical rope climb. I do rope climbs at least once a year at scout camps. I pass this one so fast, not even the people who reached before me were done. I noticed a girl, who saw me had my leg cramp earlier, was watching me and had her jaw drop at seeing how fast I went up the rope. However my left leg was cramping up again so I quickly got down and hastily move over to the next obstacle, which was a barbed wire crawl, on mud, sticky, smelly mud. After that crawl I pushed on to the next obstacle but my left leg started to cramp up once again, while I struggled to ease it, the toes in my left foot cramped up instead. I however kept pushing on while I stamped my left foot, trying to ease the cramp which did after a while. The next obstacle was a vertical slope climb where you had to climb up using a rope. Most people I see struggled with it but I saw no problem with it because all you have to do is pull the rope until it's straight, lean back and walk up while keeping the rope in tension.
Right after that obstacle, my right calf started to tense as well, I pushed on and started on the next obstacle which was to carry a sack of sand (I think it was 30kg for guys) up some slopes and back. As I tried to get on the first slope, my right calf cramped up and I fell to the ground. This cramp was so bad I couldn't move at all. Luckily there was a RELA tent set up next to this obstacle so a RELA member monitoring the sacks quickly came to my aid. He then helped me to my feet and helped me walk over to outside the race path, near the tents to rest. Worst part was that while we were going over, my left calf cramped as well so I was stuck with both legs cramped. The RELA guy and another got me two chairs to sit on and gave me their bottle of water. They told me to rest and wait for the medics to come. So I sat there hopelessly, feeling disappointed in myself while I watched people pass by. Eventually Yati arrived at this obstacle. After I told him what happened he continued on while I waited for the medics but they were taking a long time. I sat there for about 45 minutes until a group of media personal came to take photos. One of them offered to spray my legs with his muscle cramp spray (what's that really called?) and after resting for another ten minutes, I pushed on. I thanked the RELA members and the first RELA member who helped me. He said I can just skip this obstacle but I told him I can do it and he cheered me on, "Berusahalah!". After I passed this obstacle, I met my impenetrable wall. It was a pulley where you had to pull an attached weight up to the top of the tall pole. I had cramps in both legs and I am close to underweight, it would have been a stressful feat for me to pull it off. I only manage to pull the weight up to half the pole and I could raise it no more and so I failed, so I had to do my first penalty of 30 burpees.
Feeling defeated but still determined to complete the course I started to limp to the next obstacle. This is the part where everyone got really really dirty. It was a series of mud hills and mud pools. I slid into the smelly pool and helped boost the people before me up the slippery slope, which in turn helped me up the slope as well, this became a chain as I also helped the people behind me and we all got over this obstacle together. During this time, I felt like it was a moment when teamwork and unity was at it's strongest in the whole race. After our muddy bath, the next obstacle, we had to carry a bucket, fill it with stones from a pit to near the brim and carry it around the course before pouring it back into the pit. This wouldn't have been a problem for me, not for how muddy and sticky everything was. Rocks and sand stuck everywhere and carrying the pail hurt because of the sharp ends of all that mineral. I had to make several stops and when I got back to the pit, the marshal helped me pour the rocks back into the pit when he saw me limping.
Disappointment part two came along, after drinking some water and trying to wash the mud off my hands (which didn't work because, mud everywhere) at the water station right after the last obstacle, was the multi-ring obstacle (that's what everyone calls it), it's like monkey bars except there are a variety of hanging supports that can swing. There were polls, rings and ropes to get across. I am very sure I could have passed this but the starting poles were covered in slippery mud, my palms were covered in slippery mud and so I slipped off the obstacle before I could get to the rings. I was sure I would have passed it if only I had a good grip on the ring. I went over to do my burpees but my leg cramped at number twelve. Some media personal came and helped me and told me to skip the burpees.
Right after the multi-ring was another set of wall climbs. This time the walls were much higher but still it's within my range of capabilities. Unfortunately when I jumped up to get over the wall, my right calf cramped up as I was going to use it to hook myself to the top of the wall and I came crashing down in pain. I didn't feel the pain in my left arm when I landed on it because the pain in my calf was overwhelming. Some guys quickly carried me aside and a marshal told them to leave me after they helped me a little and got me to stand for myself and do stretches. Right after I went over to get more muscle spray from the medics nearby, I went back to face the obstacle. A group of tall foreigners had come to the obstacle and one of them was trying to impress a girl in the group to see him do it but he failed at his first attempt. I was right behind him so he let me go next and when I went up and over in one go, they all cheered for me. That boosted my confidence in completing the obstacle course.
After going over some hills, we met with another wall, this time the last one. It's an eight feet wall and many people started to need help with it. The marshal there told us to help each other or find help if needed. After helping some people up, a guy offered to boost me up but I said that I was confident that I could do it by myself but I may need some help. When I my hand on top of the wall and before I can swing my legs up, my left calf cramped up and I let myself down, this time slowly because the cramp wasn't that painful. Two guys helped me ease the cramp and I got back to my feet. With the people who were helping others earlier over the wall already, and my confidence up because I know I can reach the top of the wall, I went over it without help and pushed on into the trail that leads into the hiking track that goes into the hill. I didn't know we had a hiking track here in Setia Alam, when I find the opportunity to, I'll try to hike this hill.
The track in the hill went on for quite a distance, I was struggling most of the time because of the uneven grounds and the cramping in both my legs. With my left leg feeling much worse than the right, I had to limp on my right leg all the way to the end of the obstacle course. When we got out of the hill, the next obstacle course was a javelin throw. I failed this horribly because of my limp and I totally suck at throwing javelins. Before I did my burpees, the marshal there saw my condition and told me to skip the burpees. I am grateful for that. I could have gotten another cramp attack. Right after this the obstacle was to slide down into a pool of mud (which is less thick compared to the previous mud pool), here the thick mud stuck to my shoes came off and I manage to wash off some of the mud along my arms and hands. I proceeded to the next obstacle which is to climb up a metal slope using the rope, like slopes earlier, out of the pool and down the bars on the opposite side. With the finishing line in sight right after it, the last obstacle was a row of burning logs and all we had to do was jump over it to victory.
I limped across the finishing line and got my medal put around my neck for me. I quickly made my way to the refreshments and drank some water before collecting my finisher shirt from the counter. I quickly spotted Yati who had already showered and changed and we went to collect my goodie bag. After I hit the (open air) showers and changed out of my muddy attire, we head back, after taking some commemorative photos.
Spartan Race Malaysia is by far the best obstacle course race I've experienced so far. It was well organized, the obstacles were fun and I had a great time, minus all the times I had my cramps and those feelings of disappointment in myself. I can't wait for the next obstacle course I can attend and next time, I will be ready!
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Undefined
While I'm in the middle of another period of self loathing and acute depression. I learned yet another thing, I most likely don't know myself that well yet.
You learn about other people, what their habits are, their likes and dislikes, their personalities and attitudes but do you really know yourself? I figured out today that I probably don't know myself yet.
Sometimes I get irrationally upset over some things or situations and in that moment I just get frustrated because of that issue and it never occurred to me that it was because I didn't understand why I felt that way about said issue that made me upset. Looking back at numerous moments in my life where I behaved out of character made me realise that I simply didn't understand where my emotions were coming from and I just snap at that unnoticed uncertainty.
Mostly this kind of situations happen when I experience new or unfamiliar experiences, emotions or feelings. I admit had been quite a sheltered kid, I didn't have a lot of behavior problems and I often had rules and principles that restricted me from experiencing new things that are deemed 'bad'. So when I start to explore these experiences, emotions and feelings and I don't understand it like a wild animal seeing it's reflection for the first time and I get terribly upset, all without knowing why I was upset.
Another main reason that supports my irrational sourness is how I am such a coward. I know for a fact that I'm cowardly, I'm always afraid of changes, big changes especially. When my surroundings take a turn for a change I get jumpy and upset because suddenly there are things that are not going how it should be or how it used to be. Hand in hand with my fears is envy and jealousy. While I may not be that much of a jealous person, I'm often green with envy, afraid of losing what I want to someone else, and the result is getting gloomy over the fear of losing what I need to someone else. So with me, fear and envy come hand in hand to produce my reasons for sorrow, which builds up to despair or depression.
I think of depression as a ball with inconsistent density that sinks and floats in a pool of water. It comes and goes like the wind, one day you're jolly and the next day you're not. Whenever my depression coils around me I get feverish and sickly, I feel tired and dejected, I get hungry easily and I will want to wallow in all the negativity that builds around me. While I can momentarily distract myself from it with hobbies, work and music, it always comes around like a shadow, impossible to escape from. Without a doubt, depression isn't good, but I find that every time I feel depressed, I will unearth small bits of information as to why I feel so down and dishearten by everything around me and I learn and understand myself a bit better by putting them all together. Be the result right or wrong, learning about oneself is a discovery for a lifetime, hence the fact that people always change. The you today is not the same as the you tomorrow.
With all that said, I'm glad I have friends who treasure me for who I am. The me who never fails to disappoint people, the me who is always awkward, the me who is always a nervous wreck. It's thanks to my friends who tell me about my personality, attitudes and behaviors, that I get to know myself better. Cheerio.
You learn about other people, what their habits are, their likes and dislikes, their personalities and attitudes but do you really know yourself? I figured out today that I probably don't know myself yet.
Sometimes I get irrationally upset over some things or situations and in that moment I just get frustrated because of that issue and it never occurred to me that it was because I didn't understand why I felt that way about said issue that made me upset. Looking back at numerous moments in my life where I behaved out of character made me realise that I simply didn't understand where my emotions were coming from and I just snap at that unnoticed uncertainty.
Mostly this kind of situations happen when I experience new or unfamiliar experiences, emotions or feelings. I admit had been quite a sheltered kid, I didn't have a lot of behavior problems and I often had rules and principles that restricted me from experiencing new things that are deemed 'bad'. So when I start to explore these experiences, emotions and feelings and I don't understand it like a wild animal seeing it's reflection for the first time and I get terribly upset, all without knowing why I was upset.
Another main reason that supports my irrational sourness is how I am such a coward. I know for a fact that I'm cowardly, I'm always afraid of changes, big changes especially. When my surroundings take a turn for a change I get jumpy and upset because suddenly there are things that are not going how it should be or how it used to be. Hand in hand with my fears is envy and jealousy. While I may not be that much of a jealous person, I'm often green with envy, afraid of losing what I want to someone else, and the result is getting gloomy over the fear of losing what I need to someone else. So with me, fear and envy come hand in hand to produce my reasons for sorrow, which builds up to despair or depression.
I think of depression as a ball with inconsistent density that sinks and floats in a pool of water. It comes and goes like the wind, one day you're jolly and the next day you're not. Whenever my depression coils around me I get feverish and sickly, I feel tired and dejected, I get hungry easily and I will want to wallow in all the negativity that builds around me. While I can momentarily distract myself from it with hobbies, work and music, it always comes around like a shadow, impossible to escape from. Without a doubt, depression isn't good, but I find that every time I feel depressed, I will unearth small bits of information as to why I feel so down and dishearten by everything around me and I learn and understand myself a bit better by putting them all together. Be the result right or wrong, learning about oneself is a discovery for a lifetime, hence the fact that people always change. The you today is not the same as the you tomorrow.
With all that said, I'm glad I have friends who treasure me for who I am. The me who never fails to disappoint people, the me who is always awkward, the me who is always a nervous wreck. It's thanks to my friends who tell me about my personality, attitudes and behaviors, that I get to know myself better. Cheerio.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Vivid in Static and Grain
The other day, my manager, Steven walked me through some assignments to work on based on the London management representative, Stuart's comments on the store in 1Utama. He was telling me about rearranging some of the displays and the categories when I felt a familiar feeling. Steven was passionately telling me about what to do with the merchandising issue we were having, just like how he used to do it when I was working as a floor staff last year. That feeling in turn sparked a vivid image of Lydia in my mind. Over time of not seeing someone, my memory of people always fades out or blurs, I still remember people, just not as clear as when I see them everyday. Steven's behavior made me remember Lydia so clearly I could almost smell the scent of the shampoo she uses (I'm not a creep, she said so herself that the shampoo she uses gives off a strong scent). I also recounted the days when Steven would behave so when telling specifically Lydia and I what to do at work, be it merchandising or setting up stores. I haven't seen or talked to Lydia and I wonder how she's doing. I sure do miss her a lot. I've been thinking of calling her to meet up but I have so many doubts and worries, I'm just waving it off by focusing on work and other things. When my job starts to settle down I'll do that.
Banana Split
On the 9th of September, a Wednesday, Wilson, KW and I met up to go to the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre (KLPAC) to support Kai's first ever stand-up act. Kai had told us about him going to try stand-up before and the curtains are finally drawing.
In the afternoon, my dad dropped me at Wilson's house where I chilled and read his Spider-Man comic books while he worked on his assignment and played some games. When it was 5pm, we headed over to KW's house where we chilled again and played with KW's hamsters while KW did his work. After that we headed out to the Malay night market and bought dinner. After dinner we headed out in KW's car to KLPAC.
There was a traffic jam on the way so Wilson and KW wondered if we should call Kai to buy us the entry tickets first but then decided not to, but as they already have made their decision, I pranked them for a while two minutes plus by pretending to call Kai and asking him to buy the tickets.
When we got there, I quickly made my way to the piano in the lobby because Kai hid the free ticket there. There was a lady already there and a ticket was on the cover of the piano. I wasn't sure if that was it because Kai said it was inside on the keys. I asked the lady if it was her's and she said 'no', I still wasn't sure so I lifted the cover up and checked the keys to which, I confirmed that the ticket on top is for me. When I put the cover back down, I caught a glimpse of my ticket sliding into the piano behind the keys. Genius, I didn't hold the ticket when I lifted the cover. My large fingers couldn't fit into the gap so I went to the information counter to ask for help. Luckily this skinny guy could fit his fingers in and helped me get my ticket. What a save.
The show Kai was participating in was called Short and Sweet Malaysia. They have many categories and for this particular night, it was Stand-up comedy and Song. So it was a two hour show of song and stand-up comedy by local newcomers and veterans. While it was a show for budding artists, it was also a small competition at the same time.
The three of us got a show schedule that doubled as a feedback and voting form before we entered the hall. It was small hall just nice to fit everyone and still have space. The shows that night was entertaining. There were good performances by the comedians and the musicians as well as some bad and unentertaining ones. We've heard Kai's rehearsal before but it wasn't that impressive while it was a rehearsal. On his actual performance though, it was pretty good. However, we saw how uncomfortable Kai was while he was performing and after the show we went to a mamak and we gave him feedback and suggestions on how to improve his act over supper.
The show was for four nights long and the award ceremony was on Saturday, unfortunately we couldn't make it to see if Kai won anything. Kai didn't, but it was a good first experience for him. Kai made new friends too in this field and he got a lot of tips and advice from a seasoned performer and scriptwriter. Kai now has a dream to do another stand-up, the next time with me. But I don't know, I'm not very outspoken and I don't know what kind of stand-up I can do that other people can relate. Well when it happens, it's worth to try.
In the afternoon, my dad dropped me at Wilson's house where I chilled and read his Spider-Man comic books while he worked on his assignment and played some games. When it was 5pm, we headed over to KW's house where we chilled again and played with KW's hamsters while KW did his work. After that we headed out to the Malay night market and bought dinner. After dinner we headed out in KW's car to KLPAC.
There was a traffic jam on the way so Wilson and KW wondered if we should call Kai to buy us the entry tickets first but then decided not to, but as they already have made their decision, I pranked them for a while two minutes plus by pretending to call Kai and asking him to buy the tickets.
When we got there, I quickly made my way to the piano in the lobby because Kai hid the free ticket there. There was a lady already there and a ticket was on the cover of the piano. I wasn't sure if that was it because Kai said it was inside on the keys. I asked the lady if it was her's and she said 'no', I still wasn't sure so I lifted the cover up and checked the keys to which, I confirmed that the ticket on top is for me. When I put the cover back down, I caught a glimpse of my ticket sliding into the piano behind the keys. Genius, I didn't hold the ticket when I lifted the cover. My large fingers couldn't fit into the gap so I went to the information counter to ask for help. Luckily this skinny guy could fit his fingers in and helped me get my ticket. What a save.
The show Kai was participating in was called Short and Sweet Malaysia. They have many categories and for this particular night, it was Stand-up comedy and Song. So it was a two hour show of song and stand-up comedy by local newcomers and veterans. While it was a show for budding artists, it was also a small competition at the same time.
The three of us got a show schedule that doubled as a feedback and voting form before we entered the hall. It was small hall just nice to fit everyone and still have space. The shows that night was entertaining. There were good performances by the comedians and the musicians as well as some bad and unentertaining ones. We've heard Kai's rehearsal before but it wasn't that impressive while it was a rehearsal. On his actual performance though, it was pretty good. However, we saw how uncomfortable Kai was while he was performing and after the show we went to a mamak and we gave him feedback and suggestions on how to improve his act over supper.
The show was for four nights long and the award ceremony was on Saturday, unfortunately we couldn't make it to see if Kai won anything. Kai didn't, but it was a good first experience for him. Kai made new friends too in this field and he got a lot of tips and advice from a seasoned performer and scriptwriter. Kai now has a dream to do another stand-up, the next time with me. But I don't know, I'm not very outspoken and I don't know what kind of stand-up I can do that other people can relate. Well when it happens, it's worth to try.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
New Job, Same Place
After a stressful month of finding a job, I finally got one. I went to GRV and asked if they needed a visual merchandiser and after a week, I was informed to report to work at my station, which is in Hamleys 1Utama. Yes, I didn't want to go back to work at the toy shop, I had no choice, this was my last resort if I were to not get hired by the end of August.
I was actually gonna get a different job. I got a call from this preschool called The Odyssey as an art teacher, which they call an "Art Specialist". They saw my application on JobStreet and called me in for an interview with the director, Petunia and then I was showed around the building. It looked really nice, I had never seen a preschool so well equipped with all the facilities a child needs. From low wash basins to tiny toilets and safety precautions along the staircases, I could hardly imagine a kid getting injured here, besides a fist fight between kids. They had a whole area for arts and music and it was so awe inspiring. It was just before the holidays when I went for the interview so there were only two kids in the building. Petunia scheduled me for another visit to see what it's like in a day at The Odyssey. As I've learned on that day, The Odyssey is a Singapore based preschool that focuses on child personal development and it's heavily art based. They have a lot of artistic programmes.
On my second visit, I was introduced to the whole work force at the preschool in groups. First I was directed to the toddlers room where I watched the teachers started the day for these kids with songs and then cooking class. The way all the teachers teach in class is that there is a teacher who speaks English the whole time and another who speaks Mandarin the whole time so the kids will learn both languages at the same time. After that I joined the class for a class with older kids where they sang some songs to remember the alphabet and did some art work. Then I went to the art room to watch how the present Art Specialist deals with the kids, after that it was lunch time. The class teachers helped serve the lunch made by the preschool chef and then they went for nap time. During this time all the teachers sit together and eat lunch provided by the chef as well. After lunch, Petunia called me and we talked a little. Apparently I was shortlisted into a group of three people and they were gonna make their final decision from the three of us. Petunia said that she'll inform me if I'll get the job or not in a few days time. It appeared to me that I was going to get the job despite the fact that I don't have a lot of experience with preschool kids so I had really high hopes.
Exactly the night after, I was informed that I didn't get the job because they really wanted someone who more experience with kids. That really let me down but I decided to get a job by the end of August because I don't want to sit around at home as I was running out of money.
The whole of August, I spent my time on JobStreet looking for a job and sent applications to ideal locations based on either location and position. I even started to look for jobs that required writing like copywriting and content writing, but no one, not a single one called me back.
After that one month, I went back to my manager at Hamleys and he was more than delighted to hear that I wanted to work with them again because he had been asking me to go back to work with them a couple of times. He wasn't as happy after hearing that I didn't want to work as a floor staff but he was excited when I asked for a position as visual merchandiser because they didn't have one and the marketing executive who was going to resign soon that filling in for the position wasn't doing much progress with the artworks they need.
So I this was my first week and the number one problem I face is how poor the computers are. It's so damn slow and it crashes a lot of times. I've never had that problem since 2011. Working withe Adobe CS3 is okay, not so bad, it's just the computer. I've never felt so frustrated sitting in front Adobe Photoshop in a long time. Also, most of the files are Illustrator files and I hate Adobe Illustrator because I didn't learn how to use it and it's so different from Photoshop. Also, the people who did the official artwork for the company are very messy. They don't group, layer and name their artworks properly, just finding a single stroke in an artwork is like finding a needle in a haystack.
But I won't lose hope. I'm sure adapt to this job, as long as I can get around the software problems. I'm also sure I'll get used to sitting in the office. I can't sit still in the same place where I used to walk around continuously. I have to make frequent visits to the selling floor to get a breather. Just seeing the people I used to work with go in and out of the office makes me wanna do it too, only I don't wanna work on the selling floor, the store room is great.
One thing I noticed getting the office job in the store is that there is a clear boundary between the office staff and the store staff. Which makes a lot of sense because I never dared to communicate with the office staff when I was working as a floor staff before, not until I became a senior staff back then but still, there was formality in the air.
Well, here's to another year at Hamleys Malaysia and GRV.
I was actually gonna get a different job. I got a call from this preschool called The Odyssey as an art teacher, which they call an "Art Specialist". They saw my application on JobStreet and called me in for an interview with the director, Petunia and then I was showed around the building. It looked really nice, I had never seen a preschool so well equipped with all the facilities a child needs. From low wash basins to tiny toilets and safety precautions along the staircases, I could hardly imagine a kid getting injured here, besides a fist fight between kids. They had a whole area for arts and music and it was so awe inspiring. It was just before the holidays when I went for the interview so there were only two kids in the building. Petunia scheduled me for another visit to see what it's like in a day at The Odyssey. As I've learned on that day, The Odyssey is a Singapore based preschool that focuses on child personal development and it's heavily art based. They have a lot of artistic programmes.
On my second visit, I was introduced to the whole work force at the preschool in groups. First I was directed to the toddlers room where I watched the teachers started the day for these kids with songs and then cooking class. The way all the teachers teach in class is that there is a teacher who speaks English the whole time and another who speaks Mandarin the whole time so the kids will learn both languages at the same time. After that I joined the class for a class with older kids where they sang some songs to remember the alphabet and did some art work. Then I went to the art room to watch how the present Art Specialist deals with the kids, after that it was lunch time. The class teachers helped serve the lunch made by the preschool chef and then they went for nap time. During this time all the teachers sit together and eat lunch provided by the chef as well. After lunch, Petunia called me and we talked a little. Apparently I was shortlisted into a group of three people and they were gonna make their final decision from the three of us. Petunia said that she'll inform me if I'll get the job or not in a few days time. It appeared to me that I was going to get the job despite the fact that I don't have a lot of experience with preschool kids so I had really high hopes.
Exactly the night after, I was informed that I didn't get the job because they really wanted someone who more experience with kids. That really let me down but I decided to get a job by the end of August because I don't want to sit around at home as I was running out of money.
The whole of August, I spent my time on JobStreet looking for a job and sent applications to ideal locations based on either location and position. I even started to look for jobs that required writing like copywriting and content writing, but no one, not a single one called me back.
After that one month, I went back to my manager at Hamleys and he was more than delighted to hear that I wanted to work with them again because he had been asking me to go back to work with them a couple of times. He wasn't as happy after hearing that I didn't want to work as a floor staff but he was excited when I asked for a position as visual merchandiser because they didn't have one and the marketing executive who was going to resign soon that filling in for the position wasn't doing much progress with the artworks they need.
So I this was my first week and the number one problem I face is how poor the computers are. It's so damn slow and it crashes a lot of times. I've never had that problem since 2011. Working withe Adobe CS3 is okay, not so bad, it's just the computer. I've never felt so frustrated sitting in front Adobe Photoshop in a long time. Also, most of the files are Illustrator files and I hate Adobe Illustrator because I didn't learn how to use it and it's so different from Photoshop. Also, the people who did the official artwork for the company are very messy. They don't group, layer and name their artworks properly, just finding a single stroke in an artwork is like finding a needle in a haystack.
But I won't lose hope. I'm sure adapt to this job, as long as I can get around the software problems. I'm also sure I'll get used to sitting in the office. I can't sit still in the same place where I used to walk around continuously. I have to make frequent visits to the selling floor to get a breather. Just seeing the people I used to work with go in and out of the office makes me wanna do it too, only I don't wanna work on the selling floor, the store room is great.
One thing I noticed getting the office job in the store is that there is a clear boundary between the office staff and the store staff. Which makes a lot of sense because I never dared to communicate with the office staff when I was working as a floor staff before, not until I became a senior staff back then but still, there was formality in the air.
Well, here's to another year at Hamleys Malaysia and GRV.
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